legend [ME] A legend was first ‘the story of a saint’s life’, coming from Old French legende, from medieval Latin legere ‘to read’, also found in legible [LME] alongside lecture [ME] ‘something read’ and lesson [ME] ‘a reading’. The sense ‘a traditional story popularly regarded as historical’ dates from the early 17th century when the word is also first found meaning ‘motto, inscription’.