I. ˈlejənd noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English legende, from Middle French & Medieval Latin; Middle French legende, from Medieval Latin legenda, from Latin legendus, gerundive of legere to gather, select, read; akin to Greek legein to collect, gather, choose, speak, logos word, reason, speech, account, Albanian mb- leth I collect
1.
a. : the story of the life of a saint
b. : a collection of such stories
c. : account , history
those rambling letters … are naught else than a legend of the cumbersome life and various fortunes of a cadet — James Howell
2.
a. : lectionary 1
b. : passional
3.
a. : a story coming down from the past ; especially : one handed down from early times by tradition and popularly regarded as historical although not entirely verifiable
all the well-known families had their grotesque or tragic or romantic legends — W.B.Yeats
legends regarding buried treasure … are as numerous as they are improbable — Thomas Barbour
steeped himself in the legends of the river — Saxe Commins
b. : the total body of such stories and traditions ; especially : the collective stories and traditions of a particular group (as a people or clan)
a place in American legend
local legend perpetuates the tale — American Guide Series: Oregon
lives on in legend
c. : a popular myth usually of current or recent origin
the legends they weave offer valuable clues to their nature — Julian Towster
creation of a legend about a movie star by the publicity department
d. : one around whom such stories and traditions have grown up : one having a special status as a result of possessing or being held to possess extraordinary qualities that are usually partly real and partly mythical
a legend at forty-seven, as he has been for some years — Ward Morehouse
had already had a resounding public career and … become a legend in his own time — Vincent Sheean
e. : the subject of a legend
some cartoons … are good enough to become legend — Gerald Gottlieb
big bonuses in prosperous times are legend — Newsweek
4.
a. : the wording (as an inscription, motto, or title) on an object
a brass placard bore the legend — Erle Stanley Gardner
cancellation with the three-line legend — Stamps
the legends on both sides of the coins — J.F.Lhotka
on one side of the glass entrance is a legend twenty feet in height — R.G.Young
b. : caption 4b
c. : an explanatory list of the symbols appearing on a map or chart
d. : a statement on the label of a drug product indicating that federal law prohibits the druggist from dispensing it except on the prescription of a physician
Synonyms: see myth
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: to inscribe (as a map or illustration) with a legend