[leg.end] n [ME legende, fr. MF & ML; MF legende, fr. ML legenda, fr. L, fem. of legendus, gerundive of legere to gather, select, read; akin to Gk legein to gather, say, logos speech, word, reason] (14c) 1 a: a story coming down from the past; esp: one popularly regarded as historical although not verifiable b: a body of such stories "a place in the ~ of the frontier" c: a popular myth of recent origin d: a person or thing that inspires legends e: the subject of a legend "its violence was ~ even in its own time --William Broyles Jr."
2. a: an inscription or title on an object (as a coin) b: caption 2b c: an explanatory list of the symbols on a map or chart