different between myth vs anecdote

English

Alternative forms

• mythe (rare or archaic)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ????? (mûthos, “word, humour, companion, speech, account, rumour, fable”). Attested in English since 1830. Doublet of mythos.

Pronunciation

• enPR: m?th, IPA^(key): /m??/
• Rhymes: -??

Noun

myth (plural myths)

1. A traditional story which embodies a belief regarding some fact or phenomenon of experience, and in which often the forces of nature and of the soul are personified; a sacred narrative regarding a god, a hero, the origin of the world or of a people, etc.
2. (uncountable) Such stories as a genre.

   Myth was the product of man's emotion and imagination, acted upon by his surroundings. (E. Clodd, Myths & Dreams (1885), 7, cited after OED)

3. A commonly-held but false belief, a common misconception; a fictitious or imaginary person or thing; a popular conception about a real person or event which exaggerates or idealizes reality.

   Synonym: misconception

   Scientists debunk the myth that gum stays in the human stomach for seven years.

4. A person or thing held in excessive or quasi-religious awe or admiration based on popular legend

   Father Flanagan was legendary, his institution an American myth. (Tucson (Arizona) Citizen, 20 September 1979, 5A/3, cited after OED)

5. A person or thing existing only in imagination, or whose actual existence is not verifiable.
   • 1849, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, The Caxtons

     As for Mrs. Primmins's bones, they had been myths these twenty years.

6. An invented story, theory, or concept.

   His story is a pure myth.

Related terms

Translations

See also

• legend

Further reading

• myth in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• myth in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• "myth" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 210.

Welsh

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /m???/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /mi??/

Noun

myth

1. Nasal mutation of byth.

Mutation

English

Alternative forms

• anecdota (only attested in the plural (anecdotae), probably non-standard)
• anecdoton (Grecian)
• anecdotum (rare, Latinate)

Etymology

Late 17^th c., from French anecdote, from Ancient Greek ????????? (anékdotos, “accounts unpublished”), from ??- (an-, “not, un-”) + ??????? (ékdotos, “published”), from ???????? (ekdíd?mi, “I publish”), from ??- (ek-, “out”) + ?????? (díd?mi, “I give”).

Virtually identical cognates in other European languages – French anecdote, German Anekdote, Spanish anécdota, among others.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?æ.n?k.do?t/

Noun

anecdote (plural anecdotes)

1. A short account of a real incident or person, often humorous or interesting.
2. An account which supports an argument, but which is not supported by scientific or statistical analysis.
3. A previously untold secret account of an incident.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• data

Verb

anecdote (third-person singular simple present anecdotes, present participle anecdoting, simple past and past participle anecdoted)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To tell anecdotes (about).
   • 1879, Eustace Clare Grenville Murray, That Artful Vicar

     They were all men of the same set, knowing one another intimately, and knowing the same people; so they fell to talking and anecdoting in such pleasant wise that dinner-time approached […]

   • 1986, Elliot L. Gilbert, Best Short Stories from the California Quarterly, 1971-1985 (page 101)

     Bob anecdoted the circus he and Jimmy had seen that afternoon.

Anagrams

• encoated, toe dance, toe-dance, toedance

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.n?k.d?t/

Noun

anecdote f (plural anecdotes)

1. anecdote

Descendants

• ? Russian: ???????? (anekdót) (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• “anecdote” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).