SOURCE 01supportshistorical dictionary
Legend — Word History
Documents the reading category before the later unverifiable-story sense.
Etymology and senses- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
PERMANENT DISPUTE RECORD
ALL DISPUTES ↗CLAIM / COUNTERCLAIM / LIMITRECORD 23
DISPUTE
RECORD.
One scholarly question. Every attached source. The present editorial state, without pretending the last word has been written.
resolvedestablished
Did legend originally mean a false story?
No. Medieval Latin legenda meant things to be read. The uncertainty or fictionality of a traditional story is a later development.
WORD UNDER REVIEWDISPUTE 23
legend
/ˈlɛdʒənd/ · noun
A traditional story or explanatory inscription, descended from Latin “things to be read.”
01
DIRECT CLAIM EVIDENCE
1 SOURCES WITH A STANCE
A citation is not a vote. Each record says whether the work supports, challenges, contradicts, or contextualizes the position—and identifies the exact locus used.
02 / EDITORIAL STATE
THE CURRENT RECORD IS RESOLVED.
- CONFIDENCE
- established
- STATUS
- resolved
- LEGACY SOURCE SUMMARY
- Merriam-Webster: legend
The reviewed evidence does not yet warrant collapsing the competing or incomplete analyses into one secure answer.