A myth is a traditional or legendary story, collection, or study. It is derived from the Greek word mythos (μύθος), which simply means "story". Mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths.

A myth is, broadly, any worldview-based traditional story, or collection or study thereof:

• Sacred narrative, which validates a religious system
• Origin myth, which purports to describe the origin of some feature of the natural or social world
  • Creation myth, symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it
  • Etiological myth, intended to explain the origins of cult practices, natural phenomena, proper names and the like
• Political myth, ideological explanation for a political phenomenon that is believed by a social group
• Mythology, a body of myths (e.g., Greek mythology) or the academic discipline that studies myths
• Fable
• Folklore, a broad body of cultural traditions
  • Folkloristics, the formal, academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore
• Legend, narrative that is perceived as within human history with certain qualities of verisimilitude
• Urban legend, contemporary legend or modern story with motivating significance