legendn.
/ˈlɛdʒ(ə)nd/, U.S. /ˈlɛdʒənd/ I. A reading, a story, and related senses.† 2. A story, a tale; a narrative, an account; esp. the story of a person's life or deeds. Obsolete.† 4. A roll, a register, a list. Obsolete.In quot. c1400 with reference to people destined to everlasting life.
1. † a. A passage from a sacred text, typically the Bible or a saint's life, read aloud as part of a church service; a lesson, a reading. Obsolete.
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society > faith > worship > parts of service > reading > [noun]
capitleOE
lesson?c1225
legenda1387
chapter1482
lecture1526
lection1608
pericope1643
capitulum1668
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1874) V. 49 Þe legende þat is i-rad a children masse day.
1491 in J. Cooper Cartularium Eccl. St. Nicholai Aberdonensis (1888) I. 256 Quhay that cumis nocht..to the first legende of the dirige..salbe reput absent fra that houre.
b. A book of readings for use as lessons in church services; a lectionary, esp. one containing saints' lives. Now historical.Usually with reference to liturgical practices characteristic of the English church before the Reformation.
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society > faith > artefacts > book (general) > lectionary > [noun] > containing saints' lives
legend1429
legendary1571
synaxarion1850
1429 Will in Trans. Essex Archæol. Soc. (1895) 5 301 (MED) Also my best antiphoner noted; also my beste grayel; also a portous withowte legend; also a manuel.
1432 in H. Littlehales Medieval Rec. London City Church (1905) 27 ij legendes & a manwell & a Ordynall.
1459 Inventory Fastolf's Wardrobe in Paston Lett. (1904) III. 188 (MED) Inprimis, ij. antyfeners. Item, j. legande of hoole servyce.
1549–50 Act 3 & 4 Edward VI c. 10 in Statutes of Realm (1963) IV. i. 110 All Bookes called..Processionalles Manuelles Legends Pyes Portuyses Prymars..shalbe..abollished.
1556 in T. Warton Life Sir T. Pope (1772) App. xvi. 319 A fair legeant of parchmente lymned with gold.
1605–6 Act 3 Jas. I c. 5 §15 Missals, Breviaries, Portals, Legendes, and Lives of Sainctes.
a1746 J. Lewis in J. Gutch Collectanea Curiosa (1781) II. 165 A Legend; in which were written the Lessons to be read at Mattins.
1829 London Encycl. VIII. 381/1 The libraries of Westminster and Oxford were ordered to be ransacked and purged of the Romish legends, missals, and other superstitious volumes.
1929 E. C. Thomas Lay Folks' Hist. Liturgy ii. iii. 164 The Psalter, Legend, Antiphonal..were combined in the Breviary.
2011 D. Loades in P. Dailey Bk. Common Prayer 30 The medieval Church of England made use of many liturgical works... These included Processionals, Psalters and Legends, but the commonest were the Missal and the Primer.
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the mind > language > speech > narration > [noun] > a narrative or account
talec1200
historyc1230
sawc1320
tellinga1325
treatisec1374
chroniclec1380
process?1387
legendc1390
prosec1390
pistlec1395
treatc1400
relationc1425
rehearsal?a1439
report?a1439
narrationc1449
recorda1450
count1477
redec1480
story1489
recount1490
deductiona1532
repetition1533
narrative1539
discourse1546
account1561
recital1561
enarrative1575
legendary1577
enarration1592
recite1594
repeat1609
texture1611
recitation1614
rendera1616
prospect1625
recitement1646
tell1743
diegesis1829
récit1915
narrative line1953
c1390 (c1350) in C. Horstmann Minor Poems Vernon MS (1892) i. 174 (MED) Þis ensaumple..is writen In þe Legent Of þi[s] holy sacrament.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Shipman's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 145 Thanne wolde I telle a legende of my lyf What I haue suffred sith I was a wyf.
c1430 (c1395) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) Prol. l. 473 The moste partye of thyn lyf spende In makynge of a gloryous legende Of goode wemen.
c1440 Privity of Passion (Thornton) in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1895) I. 217 (MED) Þe apparecione made to owre lady es noghte wretyne in þe gospell..as it es more schewede in the legent of his resureccione.
?1507 W. Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen (Rouen) in Poems (1998) I. 54 This is the legeand of my lif.
1575 J. Rolland Treat. Court Venus iii. f. 47 Allegeand baith the ald and new Testamentis Historyis, Scriptouris, & vtheris lang legentis.
1601 R. Chester in C. M. Ingleby & L. T. Smith Shakespeare's Cent. Prayse (1879) 43 The true legend of famous King Arthur.
1647 J. Howell New Vol. of Lett. 204 Those rambling letters..are nought els then a legend of the cumbersome life and various fortunes of a Cadet.
1731 H. Travers Misc. Poems & Transl. 113 Were I where no officious Knave might hear..I'd tell a doleful Legend of my Life.
1774 T. Hull Henry II ii. 29 Well may'st thou declaim On their Utility, who ne'er hast felt Their harsh Severities—Thou haply canst Produce the Legend of a Life unstain'd.
3.
a. The story of a saint's life, esp. as a source of spiritual edification.
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society > faith > aspects of faith > holiness > saint > [noun] > literature about > story or account of
viea1200
legenda1400
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 20900 Qua wille haue mare of þis matere rede þe legende & ȝe mai here.
a1400 Rule of Life of Our Lady (Harl.) in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1895) I. 51 (MED) Seynt Martyals legende wytnesseþ ryȝt.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Nun's Priest's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 301 In the lyf of Seint kenelm I rede..I hadde leuere than my sherte That ye hadde rad his legende, as haue I.
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1905) II. 508 (MED) Thome Martiris Cantuariensis. We rede in his Legent how þer was in his dioces a preste þat daylie sang mes of our Ladie.
c1480 (a1400) Prol. Evangelists 108 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 239 To sancte march turnand myn hand, as I in his legand fand.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 248 In haly legendis haif I hard allevin Ma sanctis of bischoppis nor freiris be sic sevin.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. xx. 35 Legends being growne in a manner to be nothing els but heapes of friuolous and scandalous vanities.
1616 R. Sheldon Suruey Miracles Church of Rome 63 A mendacious Legend of Ignatius his miracles.
1686 Bp. G. Burnet Some Lett. conc. Switzerland iii. 126 Round the Chappell the chief Miracles in the legend of that Saint are represented in Mezzo rilievo.
1718 F. Hutchinson Hist. Ess. conc. Witchcraft xiii. 169 The Legend of St. Germain, who did just the same by a poor Man's Calf, when he and his Friends had eaten him up.
1807 J. Aikin et al. Gen. Biogr. VI. 24 About fifteen hundred volumes and small tracts: among which are most of the printed legends of the saints.
1883 G. A. Simcox Hist. Lat. Lit. II. 356 St. Agnes, whose legend is given in very spirited major alcaics.
1938 Mod. Lang. Notes 53 591 Folk-lore motifs in the legends of the saints are more numerous than a cursory examination of the popular collections would lead one to believe.
2000 Hist. Today Oct. 49/1 Part of this rebuilding included the erection of new choir stalls with decorative bench ends (or ‘popeys’), some of which featured scenes of the legend of St George himself.
b. A collection of saints' lives; a legendary; esp. (with the) the collection written in or shortly after 1260 by Jacobus de Voragine, Archbishop of Genoa (usually called more fully the Golden Legend). Also (now rarely) in extended use with reference to similar collections of stories in non-Christian cultures.
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society > faith > aspects of faith > holiness > saint > [noun] > literature about > story or account of > collection of
legendc1400
legendarya1513
sanctiloge1526
sanctology1824
sanctilogy1867
society > faith > aspects of faith > holiness > saint > [noun] > literature about > story or account of > collection of > medieval
legendc1400
c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. xviii. l. 157 (MED) Meny manere men þer beoþ, as sarrasyns and Iewes, Louyeþ nat þat lorde a-ryght, as by þe legende sanctorum.
a1425 (?c1384) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 344 (MED) Aftir bileve of hooli writt, þat telliþ of Petre and oþir apostlis..taken we biside bileve of many oþir þat þei ben seintis, as of Clement and Laurence and oþir þat þe Legende spekiþ of.
1483 W. Caxton in tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende Colophon f. ccccxliv Thus endeth the legende named in latyn legen[da] aurea, [that] is to saye in englysshe the golden legende.
1534 Prymer in Eng. Pref. sig. Bv The same iudgement and reformation is olso to be had of the bokes of passyons & sayntes lyues called legendes for in these are also many thynges added, wherof Sathan is author.
1581 N. Woodes Conflict of Conscience iii. iv. sig. Divv This Parson..is well red, in that golden legend.
1612 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 84 I had rather beleeue all the fables in the Legend, and the Alcaron, then that this vniuersall frame is without a minde.
1649 tr. Alcoran p. ix They [sc. Mohammedans] invoke their Saints, of whom they have a large Legend.
1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ I. v. §5 The next Legend the world hath should be called Legenda Orientalis.
1740 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 29 June (1966) II. 198 A belief in all the miracles in the Legend.
1776 C. Burney Gen. Hist. Music I. 173 This section would be as full of the miracles of musicians, as the Golden Legend is of those operated by the saints.
1889 Papers Amer. Soc. Church Hist. 1 p. xxi The Golden Legend of Voragine, written about 1270, had an extraordinary popularity.
1985 J. A. H. Moran Growth of Eng. Schooling 1340–1548 vi. 157 The 1415 and 1419 inventories of Lord Henry Scrope of Masham list more than fifty books, including..a legend of saints, and a life of St. Brigit.
1999 Jrnl. Eng. & Germanic Philol. 98 513 The story is not told in the Golden Legend and seems to be a late addition to the story of the saint.
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society > communication > record > list > [noun]
tableOE
scorec1325
billa1340
calendar?a1400
legendc1400
librarya1450
Ragmanc1450
Ragman rollc1450
cataloguea1464
repertory1542
scrowa1545
bedroll?1552
roll1565
file1566
state1582
inventory1589
brief1600
series1601
counter-roll1603
list1604
muster roll1605
cense1615
pinax1625
repertoirec1626
diagram1631
recensiona1638
repertorium1667
vocabulary1694
albe1697
enumeration1725
screed1748
album1753
tableau1792
roll-call1833
shopping list1923
laundry list1958
remainder list1977
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. x. l. 376 Þat I man made was and my name yentred In þe legende of lyf longe er I were.
c1540 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Hyst. & Cron. Scotl. ix. xviii. f. 124/1 Yocht he be nocht nowmerit amang the legend of papis.
1601 J. Marston et al. Iacke Drums Entertainm. i. sig. B4v Sir, I enrowle you in the Legend of my intimates.
1678 S. Patrick Glorious Epiphany xiii. 182 We would fain record our Names in the Legend of fame, by the performance of some remarkable exploit.
5.
a. A traditional story sometimes popularly regarded as historical but not authenticated; a fable, a myth.In scholarly use legend is distinguished from myth (see myth n. 1a) as typically involving (potentially) historical figures acting within an earthly environment, though supernatural elements are frequently present.
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the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > fabrication of statement or story > a false or foolish tale > [noun] > a fable, myth
feigning1388
legend1581
fabulosity1601
myth1849
urban legend1931
urban myth1982
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > legend or folk tale > [noun] > a legend or folk tale
pistlec1400
legend1581
saga1845
Märchen1869
folk-epic1904
1581 B. Rich Don Simonides I. sig. I.iij The young Gentilman being galled (for Lamia was not out of the legende) began to winch.
1595 M. Drayton Endimion & Phœbe sig. E A goodly legend, many Winters old, Learn'd by the Sheepheards fitting by their folde, How once this Fountayne was a youthfull swaine.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 506 That yee may know the Indians want not their Metamorphoses and Legends, that tell that a man..had a daughter, with whom the sunne was in love.
1685 E. Stillingfleet Origines Britannicæ i. 11 Having their minds naturally framed to believe Legends.
1726 G. Ogle Liffy Ep. Ded. p. xiv The Liffy takes its Rise in the Mountains of Wicklow, not far distant from a Hill which overlooks the rest, call'd by an old Legend, the Widows Son.
1768 H. Walpole Hist. Doubts 84 (note) It would have required half the court of Edward the Fourth to frame a consistent legend.
1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece (new ed.) I. 89 To Æolus himself no conquests and no achievements are attributed by the legends of his race.
1860 W. F. Hook Lives Archbishops Canterbury I. vi. 323 The legend which would attribute to Alfred the foundation of the University of Oxford.
1905 Times, Lit. Suppl. 28 July 239/2 He thinks that the legend..was tendencious, springing up to support a special ecclesiastical thesis.
1989 Spectator 15 Apr. 35/1 The long-held legend of Freemasonry as originating with the flight after 1309 of the Knights Templars from Europe.
2000 Church Times 29 Sept. 15/1 In the Yamana legend of the flood, the world was destroyed when the moon fell into the sea.
b. A story or rumour, typically of recent origin, which is widely known and believed by people, but is in fact unverified; a popular myth or belief.See also urban legend n. at urban adj. and n. Compounds.
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the mind > language > speech > conversation > [noun] > chatting or chat > gossiping > rumour > a piece of rumour
reportc1440
voice1463
some-say1589
buzz1612
huma1616
hearsaya1642
on dit1814
legend1858
latrine1917
latrinogram1944
gist1990
1858 Househ. Words 11 Sept. 298/1 The legend proceeds to state, that Billy made several unsuccessful attempts to engage the bear in conversation.
1892 A. Dobson 18th Cent. Vignettes 253 The popular legend that an expert Vauxhall waiter could cover the entire garden (about eleven acres) with slices from one ham.
1926 J. Galsworthy Silver Spoon i. xiii, in Mod. Comedy (1929) 322 The reasons for ejectment varied from truth to a legend that she had lifted Michael from the arms of his wife.
1941 Ann. Reg. 1940 66 The repulse..broke down the legend of the invincibility of the German Luftwaffe.
2005 Sydney Morning Herald 21 May 21/1 In recent days, Tel Aviv has been gripped by an outbreak of one of the world's most enduring mind viruses—the legend of the urban crocodile.
c. In espionage: a false identity that an agent uses in an undercover operation; a cover story.
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1969 B. Carr Spy in Sun ix. 82 The legend which Loginov built up ran true to the real-life Valter up to the time when he was about three years of age.
1989 Times 4 Mar. 3/3 GCHQ played a role in uncovering Van Haarlem's ‘legend’.
2005 S. T. Usdin Engineering Communism vi. 134 Barr rehearsed his legend over and over, keeping in his pocket a scrap of paper with vital details.
6. As a mass noun.
a. Legends (in sense 5a, 5b) collectively or as a genre; folklore, tradition.
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society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > legend or folk tale > [noun]
story?1614
legendry1754
legend1765
folk-tale1891
folk-legend1909
pishogue1931
nancy story1974
1765 M. Wodhull Equality of Mankind 4 Led by dark Legend on from clime to clime Amid th' historic ravages of Time, Thus the bold Muse asserts her liberal plan.
1782 T. Pennant Journey Chester to London 56 Legend tells us, that the before-mentioned Wulferus, then a pagan, put to death his two sons..on suspicion of favoring the Christian faith.
1810 J. N. Brewer Descriptive & Hist. Acct. Var. Palaces & Public Buildings 167 The records of European nations are black and disgraceful, but they are thrown into total eclipse..by the foul pages of Asiatic legend.
1850 R. W. Emerson Swedenborg in Representative Men iii. 145 I think of him as of some transmigrating votary of Indian legend.
1854 H. H. Milman Hist. Lat. Christianity II. iv. x. 222 Legend dwells with fond pertinacity on the holiness of the saint.
1869 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest III. xi. 5 Times..half shrouded in the mist of legend.
1923 D. A. Mackenzie Myths China & Japan vii. 76 Loki of Icelandic legend has a salmon form.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 1356 Legend has it that silkworms were known in China 2,000 years before Christ.
1984 New Yorker 21 May 110/2 The Sargasso Sea, which, according to sailors' legend, was so dense with seaweed that it dragged whole ships under.
2002 Q July 58/1 He was a small-time drug trafficker..and legend tells he learned to write songs while in jail near Tijuana.
b. colloquial. In predicative use. That which is celebrated or described in legends; the stuff of legend.In later use sometimes also interpretable adjectivally, with the sense ‘very well-known, famous; legendary’; cf. legendary adj. 2c. Sometimes, esp. in early use, influenced by predicative uses of legion (see legion n. 3, legion adj.).
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1881 Moonshine 1 Oct. 166/1 Revolution was what they called their little game, and the name of those as had their heads done to rights with the Brilliantine was legend.
1889 Puck (N.Y.) 30 Jan. 376/1 Considerations? Their name is legend. Single life ain't nothin' to compare with married life in this pertikaler.
1904 Automobile Rev. 13 Aug. 152/1 Tire troubles are legend, but they only mean ten or twenty-minute stops.
1930 Pop. Mech. Apr. 613/1 His prowess as a hunter was legend.
1980 Ski Sept. 146/2 Arnold, whose steely nerves are legend, had, by his own admission, become a head case.
2006 J. Haner Soccerhead (2007) ii. 31 As in most small towns, feuds over whose turn it was to use the field were legend, and football usually won.
7.
a. A person of sufficient distinction or achievement to have become widely renowned or talked about, esp. with respect, reverence, or awe. Frequently in living legend, a legend in one's (own) lifetime.
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the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > fame or renown > famous or eminent person > [noun]
kingeOE
master-spiritc1175
douzepersc1330
sire1362
worthya1375
lantern1382
sira1400
greatc1400
noblec1400
persona1425
lightc1425
magnate?a1439
worthyman1439
personagec1460
giant1535
honourablec1540
triedc1540
magnifico1573
ornament1573
signor1583
hero1592
grandee1604
prominent1608
name1611
magnificent1612
choice spirita1616
illustricity1637
luminary1692
lion1715
swell1786
notable1796
top-sawyer1826
star1829
celebrity1831
notability1832
notoriety1841
mighty1853
tycoon1861
reputation1870
public figure1871
star turn1885
headliner1896
front-pager1899
legend1899
celeb1907
big name1909
big-timer1917
Hall of Famer1948
megastar1969
1899 C. K. Paul Memories 109 There was a Mr Holt, a clergyman, who had some duty in the neighbourhood, but to the boys he was a legend, and always effaced himself.
1918 L. Strachey Eminent Victorians 168 She was a legend in her lifetime, and she knew it.
1948 Time 19 July 34/3 Klondike Mike, the greatest of the mushers, the sourdough who struck it rich and kept his poke, is a living legend.
1978 Lancashire Life Sept. 51/1 During the last war he became something of a legend.
1987 Hairdo Ideas July 20 Reminiscent of the styles worn by the glamour girls of the 40's, this long, thick mass of loose waves will make you a legend in your own time!
2007 Clash July 4 The issue, therefore, is dedicated to the living legend that has enriched all our lives and paved the way for modern music in all its shapes and sizes.
2007 G. Youngs Global Polit. Econ. in Information Age ii. 43 The inventor of the web Tim Berners-Lee has not surprisingly become a legend in his own lifetime.
b. A person who is extremely famous, respected, or significant within a particular field or activity. Usually with modifying word or phrase specifying the field or activity.
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1927 Athens (Ohio) Messenger 31 Jan. 10/7 Norwegian music legend, Magnhild Styhr, pianist.
1946 Camden (Arkansas) News 6 June 2/6 The old Fordham flash, who became a baseball legend at the keystone sack in his days with the Giants.
1986 Melody Maker 15 Nov. 18 (advt.) Jazz legend Miles Davis in concert Sunday November 16th.
1995 GQ Jan. 37/2 He was the guy who stole country rock legend Gram Parsons' body and burned it out in the Joshua Tree desert.
2010 Independent 3 Dec. (Viewspaper section) 20/2 Many of the stars of Hollywood's so-called golden age, for all that they remain screen legends, weren't actually much cop at acting.
II. An inscription, and related senses.† 9. Handwritten characters; writing; spec. a particular alphabet used for writing; = script n.1 8. Obsolete. rare.
8.
a. A phrase or motto inscribed on an object; an inscription.
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society > communication > writing > written text > an inscription > [noun] > motto or legend
reasona1387
wordc1390
posya1450
poesyc1450
pose?1450
legend?a1500
mot1575
motto1589
faburden1594
device1735
a1500 R. Henryson Ressoning betuix Aige & Yowth l. 15 in Poems (1981) 170 Ane bill he bure vpoun his breist abone, In letteres leill but les, with this legend [v.rr. legyand, legand, legiant]: ‘O ȝowth, thi flouris fadis ferly sone!’
1648 J. Beaumont Psyche ix. xli. 140/2 Her skin's the Paper (o how ghastly white!) Where Pain and Horror their black Legends write.
1653 A. Ross Πανσεβεια xi. 396 At the end of the Coller within an Oval, are two Angels standing upright..with this Legend about the Oval: Nihil isto triste recepto.
1796 C. Heath Excursion down Wye Pref. It bears this legend, ‘The Boys gave the Bell, and the Maids the Clapper.’
1863 Reader 4 July 5 ‘Who is Griffiths?’ is now a legend marked in paint on many of the walls about London.
1869 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (1876) III. xi. 38 No legend or effigy marks the graves of these royal Ladies.
1905 Daily Chron. 10 Oct. 2/5 The old-fashioned cask-heads with the familiar legend of ‘Fine old Port’.
1969 B. Malamud Pictures of Fidelman (1972) i. 28 Fidelman went among the graves, reading legends on tombstones.
2005 Times 21 Feb. (The Game) 22/2 Replica shirts, one of which bore the legend ‘Orient 'til I Die’.
b. Numismatics. The words or letters on either side of a coin or medal. Cf. type n. 2b.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > [noun] > obverse or reverse of coin > device stamped on > specific
crossc1330
crouch1393
about-writingc1449
half-facea1549
legend1611
mill-rind1642
graining1664
adminicles1728
tressure1745
short-cross1870
long cross1904
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Legende, a Legende, a Writing; also, the words that be about the edge of a peece of coyne.
a1719 J. Addison Dialogues Medals in Wks. (1721) I. iii. 532 We are now come to the Legend or Inscription of our Medals.
1758 J. Swinton Some Remarks on Parthian Coin 9 As the coin was not so perfectly struck, part of the Greek legend is thereby apparently lost.
1785 T. Holcroft tr. Comtesse de Genlis Tales Castle (ed. 2) I. Notes 292 On the two sides..of a medal..are distinguished the type, and the inscription or legend.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxi As..their edges were inscribed with a legend, clipping was not to be apprehended.
1908 Numismatic Chron. 8 91 The same contrast between the type and the legend is observable, but in a less degree, on the reverse.
1997 J. R. Lasser Coins of Colonial Amer. §32 Jehovah in this legend is written in Hebrew while the remainder is in Latin.
c. A caption to an illustration, photograph, etc.
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society > communication > writing > written text > [noun] > writing accompanying map or illustration
key1797
legend1863
card key1890
1863 A. Trollope Let. 21 Dec. (1983) I. 321 ‘A puir feckless thing, tottering along like’. That should be the legend to the Picture.
1909 W. Camp Jack Hall at Yale ii. 16 On the opposite side of the paper,..there was a large cartoon with the legend underneath it, ‘Fairfax discovers Goddard’.
1951 D. Bland Illustr. of Bks. ix. 142 After the blocks have been made and the proofs approved, a paste-up should be prepared for the printer, to include legends or captions.
2011 A. Adiga Last Man in Tower 231 A man wearing thick glasses sat beneath a giant framed photograph of Angkor Wat with the legend: ‘World's Biggest Hindu Temple’.
d. A key on a map, diagram, etc., explaining the symbols and abbreviations used.
ΚΠ
1885 Times 6 Oct. 5/6 It was agreed to indicate upon the map such petrographical characters as could be conveniently represented... It was agreed to represent three divisions, without prejudging the map or the legend.
1904 Bull. U.S. Geol. Surv. No. 227. 58 On the reverse of each sheet is a description of the mode of reading the map, and a legend, or series of conventional signs, indicating how the various facts shown on the map are represented.
1987 W. C. Seitter in M. F. Bode RS Ophiuchi (1985) & Recurrent Nova Phenomenon 69 Fig. 6 shows the location of the RNe in the two-colour diagram. All symbols are explained in the legend.
2005 J. Lawson Hands-on Social Stud. 116/2 Together, look at the legend on the map. Ask the students:..What does a legend tell you?
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > written text > [noun]
rounOE
pagine?c1225
writ-rounc1275
dite1340
writing1340
paperc1390
scripturea1400
writinga1400
charactc1400
textc1400
papera1500
black and white1569
page?1606
character1609
litera scripta1660
matter1683
legend1822
screed1834
reading1836
1822 P. B. Shelley Fragm. Unfinished Drama 152 Like a child's legend on the tideless sand, Which the first foam erases half, and half Leaves legible.
1836 N. Wiseman 12 Lect. Sci. & Relig. II. viii. 67 The learned..applied themselves to the study of the enchorial, or as it has since been called, the demotic legend.
10. British Navy. A written description of a planned ship, accompanying the technical drawings, stating the estimated size, speed, displacement, etc., of the ship once constructed. Frequently (and earliest) attributive: see Compounds 1b. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > [noun] > shipbuilding > planned displacement, speed, etc.
legend1887
1887 Marine Engineer Nov. 263/2 The draught was 5-9 metres forward and 62 metres aft, which is said to correspond with our Admiralty legend draught.
1891 Naval Ann. i. xi. 114 The coal-endurance..has been proved to be under 5000 knots, as against the 7000 of the Admiralty legend.
1936 W. S. Churchill in Second World War (1949) I. i. ix. 144 If you ask your people [sc. the Admiralty] to give you a legend for a 16-inch-gun ship, I am persuaded they would show you decidedly better proportions than could be achieved at 14-inch.
2012 N. Friedman Brit. Cruisers of Victorian Era 308/2 Armament listed in the Legend was two 7in 6½-ton... The Legend gave the complement as 140.
11. A vast host or multitude; = legion n. 2. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > unit of army > [noun] > legion
legion1544
legenda1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) i. iii. 48 She has all the rule of her husbands Purse: he hath a legend [1602 hath legians] of Angels. View more context for this quotation
1682 A. Behn Roundheads v. i. 51 A Legend of his Divels take him for't.
Phrases
colloquial (usually humorous or depreciative). a legend in one's (own) lunchtime (also lunch hour): famous or notorious only within a limited social circle or in one's own estimation, or for a short period of time. [Punningly after a legend in one's own lifetime at sense 7a.]
ΚΠ
1976 C. Wordsworth in Observer 20 June 27/1 Now along comes Testkill [sc. a novel by Ted Dexter and Clifford Makins].., the exotic fruit of collaboration between a batsman..and a former sports editor of The Observer who was a legend in his own lunchtime.
1989 Boston Globe (Nexis) 10 Oct. 61 ‘We turn from tramps into icons. We're legends in our own lunch hour,’ laughs guitarist Dave Stewart, who with singer Annie Lennox will act out roles much as they do in their award-winning videos.
1995 P. Redmond Hollyoaks (Mersey TV transmission script) (O.E.D. Archive) Episode 4. 61 Tony. Oh... I don't know..it's just... Being around God's gift to women all the time... Natasha. In his opinion I presume. Tony. (grins) Legend in his own lunchtime.
2015 Ilkley Gaz. (Nexis) 14 Jan. Words of inspiration from everyday and extraordinary Yorkshire folk—the world renowned, the infamous and the legends in their own lunchtime.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive and appositive.† legend lay n. Obsolete† legend-lust n. poetic Obsolete
legend king n.
ΚΠ
1928 E. P. Kelly Trumpeter of Krakow 3 There..was the great, irregular, turreted mass that was the Wawel–the fortress and castle of the kings of Poland from the time of Krakus, the legend king.
1930 E. Blunden Poems 319 And thence, before to-morrow's dawn, it springs That they are one with elves and legend-kings.
ΚΠ
1780 J. Walters Poems 66 Old bards..Who fram'd of yore the rude, romantic song, Love's legend lays ere moral Gower chose.
1821 J. Baillie W. Wallace in Metrical Legends ii My legend lay receive.
1862 E.F.J. Carrington Victoriad 146 While hail'd her, thus, young Guiscard's Legend-Lay.
ΚΠ
1911 E. Pound Canzoni 42 Nay, on my breast thou must Forget and rest and dream there For thine old legend-lust.
legend-monger n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > fabrication of statement or story > a false or foolish tale > [noun] > of an exaggerated kind > one who tells
romancera1623
legend-makera1625
legend-monger1680
screamer1831
blagueur1883
sprucer1917
society > faith > aspects of faith > holiness > saint > [noun] > literature about > story or account of > writer of
legend-maker1820
legend-monger1893
1680 H. More Apocalypsis Apocalypseos 233 No Legend-mongers, nor intruders of absurd and impossible doctrines.
1893 W. C. Borlase Age Saints Cornwall 13 Gilbert de Stone, a legend-monger of the fourteenth century.
1991 J. Richardson Life of Picasso I. iii. 49 Another myth? Unlikely; Picasso seems not to have told Sabartès, his principal legend-monger. He confided it only to wives or mistresses.
legend status n.
ΚΠ
1935 N.Y. Times 22 May 5/4 Without disrespect, I submit that he [sc. Franklin Delano Roosevelt] is an individual with above average ability who was press-agented into the legend status by a skillful publicity corps.
1974 Canberra Times 15 Jan. 12/3 (headline) Honda on the road to legend status.
2014 Michigan Chron. 7 May d1 Replacing a lead singer with legend status is daunting.
legend tale n.
ΚΠ
1598 T. Bastard Chrestoleros vii. xliv. 182 Nor legend tale, nor ancient poets fable.
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning i. sig. I3 That legend tale of Gregorius Magnus. View more context for this quotation
1847 J. A. Giles tr. William of Malmesbury Chron. Kings Eng. 25 Saint Patrick's servant as the Irish frame The legend-tale, and Beon was his name.
1981 G. Kim tr. R.-H. K. Rhee in Classical Novels of Korea 32/1 The Tale of Shim Cheong also is based on a legend tale.
b. British Navy. attributive (in sense 10), designating the estimated or planned speed, displacement, etc., of a ship before construction or testing, as legend draught, legend speed, etc. Now historical.
ΚΠ
1887Legend draught [see sense 10].
1895 Times 24 July 6/6 The legend speed is 22 knots.
1908 Westm. Gaz. 31 July 1/3 A ship..in the Bay would exceed her legend speed by a knot or two.
1921 N.Y. Times 16 Dec. 1/6 The British Government may construct two new ships, not to exceed 35,000 legend tons each.
1986 Warship 10 214/1 They had the same armament, the same legend speed of 23 knots.
2012 N. Friedman Brit. Cruisers of Victorian Era 266/2 Watts answered that the extra weight would increase draught by 6 inches, for a legend draught of 26½ft.
c. Objective, with agent and verbal nouns and participial adjectives.
legend-maker n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > fabrication of statement or story > a false or foolish tale > [noun] > of an exaggerated kind > one who tells
romancera1623
legend-makera1625
legend-monger1680
screamer1831
blagueur1883
sprucer1917
society > faith > aspects of faith > holiness > saint > [noun] > literature about > story or account of > writer of
legend-maker1820
legend-monger1893
a1625 J. Fletcher Wild-goose Chase (1652) ii. i. 16 A glorious talker, and a Legend maker Of idle tales.
1820 W. Tooke in tr. Lucian Lucian of Samosata I. 519 (note) The Christian legend-makers.
1871 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (1876) IV. xvii. 61 Norman panegyrists and legend-makers.
1995 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 16 Nov. 52/4 He was not by temperament a legend-maker himself.
legend-making adj. and n.
ΚΠ
1854 Catholic Layman May 57/2 The process of legend-making and miracle-inventing is not confined to the depth of the dark ages.
1870 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (ed. 2) II. App. H. 569 In the process of legend-making, the two injured Ladies [sc. Emma and Eadgyth] got confounded.
1905 Jrnl. Amer. Oriental Soc. 26 168 This form of nature-worship is thoroughly familiar from its prevalence among legend-making folks who need the sun's genial warmth for their growing things.
2001 L. Dégh Legend & Belief iii. 182 The text is a good example of tabloid legend-making.
2015 Daily Mirror (Nexis) 4 Apr. (Sport) 2 Only the gladiators who run out at the Stadium of Light will understand the intensity of this must-not-lose, mood-defining, legend-making game.
legend-teller n.
ΚΠ
1835 London Lit. Gaz. 17 Oct. 662/1 From the heat of the climate during the day, the period for the Eastern ‘legend-teller’ to exercise his calling, is naturally the cool of evening.
1908 E. R. Horsfall-Turner Munic. Hist. Llanidloes i. 22 Our older neighbours..can still tell many a story they heard in days gone by from the old legend-tellers.
2002 J. Snider Jungle Escape viii. 86 Old Mwanza was the legend-teller of Jaco's village.
d. Instrumental, typically with reference to places, people, objects, etc., which are strongly associated with legends.
legend-circled adj.
ΚΠ
1842 F. W. Faber Styrian Lake 316 Thou legend-circled thing, dread Euxine Sea!
1989 W. Berthoff Hart Crane ii. 28 For a narrative of his own legend-circled early life he chose as title ‘The Story and the Fable’.
legend-haunted adj.
ΚΠ
1833 F. A. Butler Jrnl. 30 Apr. (1835) ii. 191 Blue, lake-like waters,—legend-haunted isle, Over ye all, bright be the summer's smile.
1908 Daily Chron. 5 Oct. 7/1 As a poor and lonely boy he wove his day-dreams by the legend-haunted cliffs of Tintagel.
2002 J. C. Tibbetts in S. Chibnall & J. Petley Brit. Horror Cinema viii. 99 These literary ‘old dark houses’ include..the legend-haunted ancestral Pyncheon estate in Nathaniel Hawthornes's House of the Seven Gables.
legend-laden adj.
ΚΠ
a1821 J. Keats Hyperion (new ed.) 22 in Misc. Philobiblon Soc. (1856–7) III The wind..blows legend-laden thro' the trees.
1910 A. T. Wood & B. R. Wood Ribbon Roads ii. 133 The drive from Coblentz to Bingen was a triumphal progression through legend-laden scenery.
2010 Independent (Nexis) 16 Nov. 16 The abandoned church only adds to the mystique of the legend-laden sandstone hill.
legend-shrouded adj.
ΚΠ
1862 Morning Post 1 Oct. 3/6 Its great antiquity, its legend-shrouded origin, its hallowed association with saints and martyrs of the earliest time.
1957 Pittsburgh Courier 16 Nov. (Mag.) 3/1 The rich, colorful and legend-shrouded Kingdom of Dahomey was a more tempting treasure.
1998 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 24 Sept. 28/2 Mexican folk ballads called corridas, which..project even recent events into a timeless, legend-shrouded past.
legend-stored adj. now rare
ΚΠ
1840 T. A. Trollope Summer in Brittany I. 2 The traditions of its gloomy and legend-stored history.
1870 Brit. Q. Rev. Oct. 298 Traditions..which in Cornwall are attached to Tintagel and its neighbourhood, and in Brittany to the legend-stored district of Lannion.
1938 Poetry 52 68 Of sun-bred people, then lulled by legend-stored Cathedrals?
legend-wrapped adj.
ΚΠ
1875 L. Larcom Idyl of Work 113 Nobly picturesque Is ragged, legend-wrapped Chocorua.
1922 J. A. Zahm From Berlin to Bagdad & Babylon viii. 190 We had followed in their footsteps a great part of the way from the legend-wrapped Bosphorus to the romantic Cydnus.
1981 Armenian Reporter 29 Oct. 4 The ancient, legend-wrapped ‘Chamtagh’ quarter of the St. James Armenian quarter in Jerusalem.
C2.
legend book n. [compare Middle Low German legendenbōk] rare after early 17th cent. a book containing a collection of saints' lives; a legendary; cf. sense 3b.In quot. 1495: (perhaps) a lectionary; = sense 1b.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > book (general) > other books > [noun] > containing saints' lives
legend book1495
1495 in J. G. Nichols & J. Bruce Wills Doctors' Commons (1863) 4 I geve to Sir John More..a legend boke, and a colett boke.
1546 J. Bale Actes Eng. Votaryes: 1st Pt. f. 33v An holye hermyte ded oft tymes vysyte her, and moche refreshe her with a legende boke of sayntes lyues.
1611 J. Maxwell Mirrour Relig. Men sig. A5, (heading) The chiefe contents of this present Legend-booke.
1857 Gentleman's Mag. July 33 The least thing, perhaps, to excite his surprise would be the sight of Lady Constance's legend book perpetuated in print, and thus proclaiming his own canonization as one of the ecclesiastical annalists of his native or adopted land.
1954 Traditio 10 318 The similarity of procedure strengthens our view that the same legend book, the Golden Legend, was used in all three cases.
legend line n. a caption to an illustration, figure, etc.; cf. sense 8c.
ΚΠ
1903 Westm. Gaz. 8 Jan. 2/1 The sort [of satire] I should employ if—if I were writing legend-lines for a halfpenny comic paper.
1918 T. L. De Vinne & J. W. Bothwell Bk. Composition i. 100 Legend lines are usually centred.
1999 J. Ivins et al. in W. Becker et al. Current Oculomotor Res. xxvii. 184 (caption) Graph lines for..the left eye appear in the same order as the legend lines; however, this is not the case for the right eye.
Derivatives
ˈlegend-like adj. reminiscent of a legend; characteristic of legends; legendary.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > legend or folk tale > [adjective] > resembling legend
legend-like1570
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) I. 124/1 They [sc. stories of miracles] seme more legendlike, then truthlike.
1674 in O. Airy Essex Papers (1890) I. 282 Legend-like storys.
1866 S. Menzies Royal Favourites I. iii. 179 The stirring and legend-like career of Joan of Arc.
2003 J. H. Mills Making Sense Organizational Change vi. 148 The following story, told to me by both management and employees, had taken on legend-like proportions.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
legendv.
/ˈlɛdʒ(ə)nd/, U.S. /ˈlɛdʒənd/ 1.
a. transitive. To make into the subject of a legend; to tell stories of. With out in early use.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > legend or folk tale > tell of in legend [verb (transitive)]
legend1597
1597 Bp. J. Hall Virgidemiarum: 1st 3 Bks. i. i. 1 Nor ladies wanton loue, nor wandring knight, Legend I out in rymes all richly dight.
1614 T. Freeman Rubbe & Great Cast sig. C4v To legend out thy true deserued worth.
1860 H. S. Colby in A. M. Hemenway Poets & Poetry Vermont (rev. ed.) 217 Deeds that are legended in song and story Upon the page of Fame.
1942 C. A. Smith Out of Space & Time 159 Many were the necromancers and magicians of Zothique, and the infamy and marvel of their doings were legended everywhere in the latter days.
b. transitive. In passive with complement. To be recorded or reputed in legend as being or doing the specified thing.
ΚΠ
1670 J. Milton Hist. Brit. iii. 130 Som of these perhaps by others are legended for great Saints.
1821 R. Hindmarsh Vindic. Char. & Writings Swedenborg (1822) xiii. 179 Why then should it become matter of astonishment, or be legended as an incredible thing, that the Lord should, at the period of his second coming [etc.].
1899 Idler 15 271 A ruthless Rhadamanthus, as he was long legended to be.
1917 C. Vincent Coronel & Other War Poems 51 The Jew is legended in histories To cherish ancient rites as sanctities.
1986 A. C. Danto Philos. Disenfranchisem. Art v. 94 Daedalus is legended to have confected moving dolls for the royal children of King Minos.
2002 N. Tosches In Hand of Dante 263 Helen of Troy was legended to be the half-mortal daughter of Zeus.
2. transitive. To recount as a legend.† b. In active use with that-clause as object. Obsolete.
a. In passive with non-referential it as subject and clause as complement. Chiefly as a parenthetic phrase within the clause.
ΚΠ
1627 M. Stanhope Newes York-shire 14 Were they reuealed in a dreame, like S. Iohn Baptists head, or rather skull, which was made knowne (as it is fabled or Legended) to a deuout Monke in his sleepe?
1674 J. Godolphin Orphans Legacy iii. xxvi. 449 It is Asserted or Legended (which you please) by a very learned Author, That Nemo praeter Papam potest alterare voluntates Testatorum.
1892 C. R. Sail Farthest East, & South & West xvi. 294 Japanese were, it is legended, wrecked here centuries ago.
1921 S. MacManus Story of Irish Race xxiv. 182 So gifted in this malicious art were some that it was legended their satires could not only blight the crops of the satirised, but actually raise blisters on his face.
2002 ‘A. LaRocca’ Lady of La Mancha xxv. 288 Simon-Magus, it is legended, tried to fly from a tower and fell to death failing to prove his power was greater than Peter's.
ΚΠ
1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. (Rom. xi. 2) Some have legended of him [sc. Elias], that when he drew his mothers brests, he was seen to suck in fire.
3. transitive. To provide (something) with an inscription, caption, or legend (legend n. II.). Also: to give or provide (a legend). Usually in passive. Now somewhat rare.figurative in quot. 1908.
ΚΠ
1886 M. F. Tupper My Life as Author 346 He [sc. Longfellow] wrote those stirring verses, by request, on the motto for the New York coat-of-arms, which is legended not quite accurately Excelsior.
1895 E. Coues in Z. M. Pike Acct. Exped. Sources Mississippi (new ed.) II. iii. ii. 673 The large sheet of water [on the map]..across which is legended ‘Here the Indians sallied forth’.
1908 G. W. Cable Kincaid's Battery xxxvi. 187 The silken-satin standard..showing seven red days of valor legended on its folds.
1965 C. McCarthy Orchard Keeper 81 A blue and yellow card legended: Don't Make My Daddy a Drunkard.
2007 Times (Nexis) 22 May (Times2 section) 21 [In the film], a young girl chases a rabbit across a landscape legended with easy-to-read labels.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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