legend
/ˈlɛd͡ʒ.ənd/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
obsolete/ˈliːd͡ʒ.ənd/
legend noun: the life story of a saint (such stories are often embellished, but any kind is called a legend).
Noun
legend (countable and uncountable, plural legends)
- The life story of a saint (such stories are often embellished, but any kind is called a legend).
- As a child she had nothing to read but the legends of early Christian martyrs.
- A story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events.
- The legend of Troy was discovered to have a historical basis.
- Synonyms:
- myth
- A plausible story set in the historical past, but whose historicity is uncertain.
- the legend of Robin Hood
- A story in which a kernel of truth is embellished to an unlikely degree.
- The 1984 Rose Bowl prank has spawned many legends. Here's the real story.
- A fabricated backstory for a spy, with associated documents and records.
- According to his legend, he once worked for the Red Cross, spreading humanitarian aid in Africa.
- If the documents are needed to establish "a light legend," meaning a superficial cover story, no steps are taken to make sure that if someone calls the college or motor vehicle department, the name on the document will be registered.1992, Ronald Kessler, Inside the CIA, Pocket Books, published 1994, →ISBN, page 115
- Synonyms:
- cover story
- Such stories considered collectively; unverified traditional tales.
- According to ancient legend, a Greek girl, partaking of saffron for an entire week, could not resist a lover.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 212
- A leading protagonist in a historical legend.
- Achilles is a legend in Greek culture.
- Synonyms:
- hero
- A person of extraordinary fame or accomplishments.
- Michael Jordan stands as a legend in basketball.
- Sachin Tendulkar stands as a legend in cricket.
- A cool, nice or helpful person, especially one who is male.
- I've lost my pen! —Here mate, borrow mine. —You legend.
- Synonyms:
- brick
- A key to the symbols and color codes on a map, chart, etc.
- According to the legend on the map, that building is a school.
- An inscription, motto, or title, especially one surrounding the field in a medal or coin, or placed upon a heraldic shield or beneath an engraving or illustration.
- Further clues are provided by milk-floats bearing the legend 'Lord Rayleigh's Dairies: A Family Business', and a number of signs indicating the whereabouts of various departments of Lord Rayleigh's Farms.1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 375, about Terling
- […]there were three small brass coins there, the gift of Ymar. Their legends, like their faces, had worn away; and they were dark with verdigris — in appearance precisely the ancient things they were.1987, Gene Wolfe, chapter XLVIII, in The Urth of the New Sun, 1st US edition, New York: Tor Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 281
- Synonyms:
- inscription
- A musical composition set to a poetical story.
- The design and specification of a vessel.
- The legend displacement on the basis then in use was 48,000 tons, the corresponding standard displacement as defined by the Washington Treaty being 47,540 tons.1929, Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, Inc, page 304
- The legend and sketch designs were submitted to the Board on 27th March 1916 and, after examining a model and the drawings, the Sea Lords generally favoured proposal 'B'; the extra weight involved being acceptable.1976, Alan Raven, John Roberts, British Battleships of World War Two: The Development and Technical History of the Royal Navy's Battleships and Battlecruisers from 1911 to 1946, page 63
Verb
legend (third-person singular simple present legends, present participle legending, simple past and past participle legended)
Proper noun capitalized: Legend
Legend
- A male given name.
legend meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
legend in Hindi
- story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- किंवदंती kimvdantī, अफ़्साना afsānā, रिवायत rivāyat
legend in Tamil
- செவி வழிக்கதை, பழ மரபுக் கதை, புராணக்கதை
legend in Marathi
- आख्यायिका, दंतकथा, दंतकथेला
legend in Urdu
- story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- اَفْسانَہ afsāna, رِوایَت rivāyat
More languagesFewer languages
- legend in Bengali
- কিংবদন্তি kiṅbodonti
- legend in Telugu
- కల్పము kalpamu
- legend in Malayalam
- ഇതിഹാസം itihāsaṁ
- legend in Kannada
- ದಂತಕಥೆ, ಪುರಾಣ ಕಥೆ, ಆಖ್ಯಾನ, ಹಿಂದಿನಿಂದ ಬಂದಿರುವ ಕಥೆ
- legend in Punjabi
- ਦੰਤਕਥਾ, ਦੰਤਕਥ
- legend in Gujarati
- દંતકથા
- legend in Odia
- କିମ୍ବଦନ୍ତୀ
- legend in Sanskrit
- इतिहास itihāsá
- legend in Nepali
- किंवदंती, किंवदन्ती
- legend in Pashto
- افسانه afsāna, روايت rawāyat
- legend in Tagalog
- alamat
- legend in Arabic
- بَطَل baṭal, بَطَلَة baṭala, أُسْطُورَة ʔusṭūra, مِفْتَاح خَرِيطَة miftāḥ ḵarīṭa
- legend in Malay
- lagenda, legenda, riwayat
- legend in Indonesian
- legenda, riwayat
- legend in Thai
- ตำนาน dtam-naan, สัญลักษณ์ sǎn-yá-lák
- legend in Vietnamese
- huyền thoại, truyền thuyết, chú giải
- legend in Myanmar
- ဒဏ္ဍာရီ dandari, သမိုင်း sa.muing:
Examples of legend in a sentence
- According to local legend, a ghost has haunted the mansion for two hundred years.
- An urban legend claims that gang members will attack anyone who blinks them.
- Legend has it that they laid him away in an unmarked grave.
Synonyms of legend
Forms of legend
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | legends |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | legends |
| present participle | legending |
| past participle | legended |
| past | legended |
Origin of legend
From Middle English legende, from Old French legende, from Medieval Latin legenda (“a legend, story, especially the lives of the saints”), from Latin legenda (“things which ought to be read”), from lego (“to read”).
Words formed from legend
Phrases with legend
Questions about legend
- What does legend mean?
- Legend means the life story of a saint (such stories are often embellished, but any kind is called a legend).
- What is legend in Hindi?
- Legend in Hindi is किंवदंती (kimvdantī), अफ़्साना (afsānā), रिवायत (rivāyat). See Legend meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is legend?
- Legend can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce legend?
- Legend is pronounced /ˈlɛd͡ʒ.ənd/.
- What is the plural of legend?
- The plural of legend is legends.
Words near legend in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: legend (page history and authors); Legend (page history and authors); legend (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); legend (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); కల్పము (Telugu) (page history and authors); legend (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); legend (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); legend (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); legend (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); legend (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-legend.ogg, en-au-legend.ogg.
Cite this entry: “legend.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/legend. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.