legend

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
legend/ˈleʤənd/

▶noun

• 1 a traditional story popularly regarded as historical but which is not authenticated.

• 2 an extremely famous or notorious person: a screen legend.

• 3 an inscription on a coin or medal.

  ■ explanatory wording on a map, diagram, etc.

• 4 historical a written account of a saint's life.

▶adjective very well known: his speed and ferocity in attack were legend.

– origin ME: from OFr. legende, from med. L. legenda ‘things to be read’, from L. legere ‘read’.