One entry found for legend.

Main Entry: leg·end
Pronunciation: lej-nd
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English legende "a legend," derived from Latin legenda "something to be read," derived from earlier legere "to gather, read"
1 : a story coming down from the past whose truth is popularly accepted but cannot be checked
2 a : writing or a title on an object b : CAPTION 2 c : an explanatory list of the symbols on a map or chart
Word History The Latin verb legere originally meant "to gather." In time the verb came to mean "to gather with the eye, to see," and that led to the sense "to read." From this verb came the Latin noun legenda, used in the Middle Ages to mean "a thing to be read." Legenda was used to refer in particular to stories about the lives of saints. Many such stories were written in the Middle Ages, and they often included fiction along with fact. Because of that, when legenda was borrowed into English as legend, it came to mean "a story coming down from the past which may or may not be entirely true."