name
Meaning 1
A male given name.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
legend
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/ˈlɛd͡ʒ.ənd/
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obsolete: /ˈliːd͡ʒ.ənd/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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CMU ARPABET: L EH1 JH AH0 N D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
The life story of a saint (such stories are often embellished, but any kind is called a legend).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
- As a child she had nothing to read but the legends of early Christian martyrs.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
An unrealistic story depicting past events.
A story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
- The legend of Troy was discovered to have a historical basis.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: myth
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
An unrealistic story depicting past events.
A plausible story set in the historical past, but whose historicity is uncertain.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
- the legend of Robin Hood
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
An unrealistic story depicting past events.
A story in which a kernel of truth is embellished to an unlikely degree.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
- The 1984 Rose Bowl prank has spawned many legends. Here's the real story.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: myth, tall tale
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
An unrealistic story depicting past events.
A fabricated backstory for a spy, with associated documents and records.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
- According to his legend, he once worked for the Red Cross, spreading humanitarian aid in Africa.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: cover story
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 7
Such stories considered collectively; unverified traditional tales.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 8
A person related to a legend or legends.
A leading protagonist in a historical legend.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
- Achilles is a legend in Greek culture.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: hero
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 9
A person related to a legend or legends.
A person of extraordinary fame or accomplishments.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
- Michael Jordan stands as a legend in basketball.
- Sachin Tendulkar stands as a legend in cricket.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 10
A person related to a legend or legends.
A person of extraordinary fame or accomplishments.
A cool, nice or helpful person, especially one who is male.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Australia, Ireland, New-Zealand, UK, colloquial, countable, slang, uncountable
Examples
- I've lost my pen! —Here mate, borrow mine. —You legend.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: brick
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 11
A key to the symbols and color codes on a map, chart, etc.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: cartography, geography, natural-sciences
Examples
- According to the legend on the map, that building is a school.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: guide, key
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 12
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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: government, heraldry, hobbies, lifestyle, monarchy, nobility, numismatics, politics
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: inscription
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 13
A musical composition set to a poetical story.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 14
The design and specification of a vessel.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: government, military, naval, navy, politics, war
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 15
To tell or narrate; to recount.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 16
brief description accompanying an illustration
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: caption
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: title
noun
Meaning 17
a story about mythical or supernatural beings or events
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: fable
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: story
Narrower terms: Arthurian legend
History
Etymology
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”).
Across languages
Translations
207 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Afrikaans: legende — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Albanian: gojëdhënë (tosk) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Albanian: gojdhânë (gheg) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Albanian: legjendë — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Alsatian Alemannic German: sàga (Mulhouse) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Arabic: أُسْطُورَة (ʔusṭūra) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Arabic: خرافة (ḵurāfe) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Armenian: ավանդություն (avandutʻyun) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Armenian: լեգենդ (legend) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Armenian: առասպել (aṙaspel) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Asturian: lleenda — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Azerbaijani: əfsanə — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Bashkir: риүәйәт (riwəyət) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Bashkir: легенда (legenda) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Belarusian: леге́нда (ljehjénda) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Bengali: কিংবদন্তি (kiṅbodonti) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Bulgarian: леге́нда (legénda) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Burmese: ဒဏ္ဍာရီ (dandari) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Burmese: သမိုင်း (sa.muing:) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Catalan: llegenda — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Chinese Cantonese: 傳說 /传说 (cyun4 syut3) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Hakka Chinese: 傳說 /传说 (chhòn-sot) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Chinese: 傳說 /传说 (zh-min-nan) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Chinese Mandarin: 傳說 /传说 (chuánshuō) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Wu Chinese: 傳說 /传说 (6zoe-seq) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Czech: pověst — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Czech: legenda — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Danish: legende — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Dutch: legende — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Esperanto: legendo — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Estonian: legend — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Finnish: legenda — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- French: légende — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Galician: lenda — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Georgian: ლეგენდა (legenda) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- German: Legende — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Gothic: 𐍃𐍀𐌹𐌻𐌻 (spill) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Greek: θρύλος (thrýlos) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Hebrew: אַגָּדָה (agadá) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Hindi: किंवदंती (kimvdantī) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Hindi: अफ़्साना (afsānā) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Hindi: रिवायत (rivāyat) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Hungarian: legenda — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Icelandic: sögn — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Indonesian: legenda — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Indonesian: riwayat — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Ingrian: legenda — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Irish: finscéal — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Italian: leggenda — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Italian: favola — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Italian: epopea — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Japanese: 伝説 (densetsu) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Kazakh: ертек (ertek) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Kazakh: легенда (legenda) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Kazakh: әпсана (äpsana) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Kazakh: аңыз (añyz) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Kazakh: әфсана (äfsana) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Khmer: ព្រេងនិទាន (preing nitiən) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Khmer: រឿងព្រេង (rɨəng preing) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Khmer: ឥតិហាស (ʼetehaah) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Korean: 전설 (jeonseol) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Northern Kurdish: efsane — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Northern Kurdish: dastan — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Kyrgyz: легенда (legenda) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Lao: ຕໍານານ (tam nān) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Latin: fabula — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Latvian: teika — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Latvian: pasaka — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Latvian: leģenda — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Lithuanian: legenda — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Macedonian: легенда (legenda) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Malay: legenda — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Malay: riwayat — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Malayalam: ഇതിഹാസം (itihāsaṁ) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Māori: pūrākau — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Māori: kōrero tara — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Middle English: legende — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Mongolian: домог (domog) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Mongolian: ᠳᠣᠮᠤᠭ (domuɣ) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Nanai: тэ̄луӈу (tēluŋu) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Norwegian Bokmål: legende — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Norwegian Nynorsk: legende — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Ojibwe: aadizokaan — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Pashto: افسانه (afsāna) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Pashto: روايت (rawāyat) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Iranian Persian: اَفْسانِه (afsâne) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Iranian Persian: رِوایَت (revâyat) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Polish: legenda — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Portuguese: lenda — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Romanian: legendă — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Russian: леге́нда (legénda) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Russian: пове́рье (povérʹje) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Russian: сказа́ние (skazánije) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Russian: преда́ние (predánije) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Sanskrit: इतिहास (itihāsá) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Scottish Gaelic: fionnsgeul — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Serbo-Croatian: лѐге̄нда — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Serbo-Croatian: га̑тка — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Serbo-Croatian: ка́жа — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Serbo-Croatian: пре̏даја — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Serbo-Croatian: lègēnda — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Serbo-Croatian: gȃtka — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Serbo-Croatian: káža — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Serbo-Croatian: prȅdaja — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Sicilian: cuntu — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Sicilian: liggenna — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Sicilian: fàvula — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Slovak: legenda — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Slovak: povesť — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Slovene: legenda — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Slovene: pripoved — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Spanish: leyenda — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Swahili: hekaya — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Swedish: legend — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Tagalog: alamat — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Tajik: афсона (afsona) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Tajik: ривоят (rivoyat) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Tatar: риваять (riwayät) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Tatar: легенда (legenda) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Thai: ตํานาน (dtam-naan) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Tibetan: གཏམ་རྒྱུད (gtam rgyud) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Tibetan: སྒྲུང་གཏམ (sgrung gtam) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Turkish: efsane — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Ottoman Turkish: افسانه (efsane) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Ottoman Turkish: داستان (dastan, destan) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Ottoman Turkish: اسطوره (ustura) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Turkmen: rowaýat — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Turkmen: legenda — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Ukrainian: леге́нда (lehénda) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Urdu: اَفْسانَہ (afsāna) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Urdu: رِوایَت (rivāyat) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Uyghur: رىۋايەت (riwayet) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Uyghur: ئەپسانە (epsane) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Uzbek: afsona — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Uzbek: rivoyat — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Uzbek: legenda — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Vietnamese: truyền thuyết — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Vietnamese: huyền thoại — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Welsh: chwedl — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Yiddish: לעגענדע (legende) — story of unknown origin describing plausible but extraordinary past events
- Afrikaans: legende — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Arabic: بَطَل (baṭal) — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Arabic: بَطَلَة (baṭala) — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Bulgarian: леге́нда (legénda) — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Catalan: llegenda — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Chinese Mandarin: 傳奇 /传奇 (chuánqí) — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Esperanto: legendo — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Esperanto: legendulo — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Finnish: legenda — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- French: légende — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Galician: lenda — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Greek: θρύλος (thrýlos) — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Hungarian: legenda — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Italian: mito — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Italian: mostro sacro — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Italian: leggenda — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Jaoanese: 偉人 (ijin) — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Jaoanese: 巨人 (kyojin) — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Malay: lagenda — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Malayalam: ഇതിഹാസം (itihāsaṁ) — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Polish: legenda — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Portuguese: lenda — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Russian: леге́нда (legénda) — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Serbo-Croatian: лѐге̄нда — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Serbo-Croatian: lègēnda — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Spanish: leyenda — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Swedish: legendar — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Turkish: efsane — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Turkish: kahraman — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Vietnamese: huyền thoại — any person of extraordinary accomplishment
- Afrikaans: sleutel — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Arabic: مِفْتَاح خَرِيطَة (miftāḥ ḵarīṭa) — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Bulgarian: леге́нда (legénda) — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Catalan: llegenda — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Chinese Mandarin: 圖例 /图例 (túlì) — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Chinese Mandarin: 說明 /说明 (shuōmíng) — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Dutch: legenda — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Esperanto: mapklarigo — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Finnish: selitykset — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Finnish: selite — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- French: légende — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Galician: lenda — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- German: Legende — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Greek: επεξήγηση (epexígisi) — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Greek: λεζάντα (lezánta) — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Greek: υπόμνημα (ypómnima) — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Hebrew: מִקְרָא (mikrá) — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Hungarian: jelmagyarázat — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Hungarian: jelkulcs — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Icelandic: myndskýring — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Italian: legenda — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Japanese: 凡例 (hanrei) — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Korean: 범례 (beomnye) — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Norwegian Bokmål: symboler — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Norwegian Bokmål: tegnforklaring — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Polish: legenda — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Portuguese: legenda — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Romanian: legendă — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Russian: леге́нда (legénda) — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Russian: усло́вные обозначе́ния (uslóvnyje oboznačénija) — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Slovene: legenda — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Spanish: leyenda — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Spanish: simbología — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Swedish: teckenförklaringar — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Thai: สัญลักษณ์ (sǎn-yá-lák) — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Turkish: lejant — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
- Vietnamese: chú giải — key to the symbols and color codes on a map
Real reading context