my·thol·o·gy

(mĭ-thŏl′ə-jē)

n. pl. my·thol·o·gies

a. A body or collection of myths belonging to a people and addressing their origin, history, deities, ancestors, and heroes.

b. A body of myths associated with an event, individual, or institution: "A new mythology, essential to the ... American funeral rite, has grown up" (Jessica Mitford).

2. The field of scholarship dealing with the systematic collection and study of myths.

[French mythologie, from Late Latin mȳthologia, from Greek mūthologiā, story-telling : mūthos, story + logos, saying; see -logy.]

my·thol′o·gist n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

mythology

(mɪˈθɒlədʒɪ)

n, pl -gies

1. (Classical Myth & Legend) a body of myths, esp one associated with a particular culture, institution, person, etc

2. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) a body of stories about a person, institution, etc: the mythology of Hollywood.

3. (Classical Myth & Legend) myths collectively

4. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) myths collectively

5. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) the study or collecting of myths

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

my•thol•o•gy

(mɪˈθɒl ə dʒi)

n., pl. -gies.

1. a body of myths, as that of a particular people.

2. myths collectively.

3. the science or study of myths.

4. a set of stories, traditions, or beliefs that have accrued around a particular person, event, or institution.

[1375–1425; late Middle English mythologie < Late Latin mȳthologia < Greek mȳthología. See mytho-, -logy]

my•thol′o•gist, n.

Mythology

See also god and gods.

centauromachy

battle between centaurs or between centaurs and men.

cornucopia

1. Greek Mythology. a horn of plenty, from the hom of the goat Amalthaea that dispensed an endless supply of food, drink, and other riches.
2. any copious or abundant supply or source. — cornucopian, adj.

dryad

a wood nymph.

euhemerism

the belief that the mythological gods were merely legendary kings and heroes deified. — euhemerist, n. — euhemeristic, adj.

hamadryad

a dryad that is the spirit of a particular tree.

limniad, limoniad

Rare. a water nymph or naiad.

mythicism

the attribution of supernatural events to mythological causes.

mythicist

1. a student of myths.
2. an interpreter of myths.

mythoclast

an opponent of myths. — mythoclastic, adj.

mythogenesis

1. the establishment and development of myths.
2. the tendency to create myths or to give mythical status to a person or event. Also called mythogeny. — mythogenetic, adj.

mythography

1. the collecting of myths.
2. the recording of myths in writing.
3. a critical collection of myths. — mythographer, mythographist, n.

mythologem

a recurrent pattern, event, or theme in myths, as an explanation of the change of seasons; folklore motifs.

mythologer

a narrator of myths and legends.

mythology

1. a body of stories relating the traditional origins and causes of the world, natural forces and phenomena, and cultural developments, as that of a particular people or relating to a particular person.
2. a collection of myths.
3. the science of myths. — mythologist, n. — mythological, adj.

mythopoesis

the creation of myths. — mythopoeist, n. — mythopoeic, adj.

mythos, mythus

1. myth.
2. mythology.
3. the interrelationship of value structures and historical experiences of a people, usually given expression through the arts.

naiad

a nymph or spirit of rivers and streams.

Oceanid

any of the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys; a sea nymph.

theomythology

a mixture of theology and mythology. — theomythologer, n.

undine

according to Paracelsus, a water nymph or spirit, female in form and lacking a soul until married to a mortal and mother of his child.

vampirism

1. the state or condition of being a vampire.
2. the actions or habits of vampires.
3. belief in the existence of vampires. — vampiric, adj.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	mythology - myths collectively; the body of stories associated with a culture or institution or person Annwfn, Annwn - (Welsh mythology) the other world; land of fairies mythology - the study of myths myth - a traditional story accepted as history; serves to explain the world view of a people diffusion - the spread of social institutions (and myths and skills) from one society to another aggregation, collection, accumulation, assemblage - several things grouped together or considered as a whole classical mythology - the system of mythology of the Greeks and Romans together; much of Roman mythology (especially the gods) was borrowed from the Greeks Norse mythology - the mythology of Scandinavia (shared in part by Britain and Germany) until the establishment of Christianity Arjuna - (Hindu mythology) the warrior prince in the Bhagavad-Gita to whom Krishna explains the nature of being and of God and how humans can come to know God Nibelung - (German mythology) any of the race of dwarfs who possessed a treasure hoard that was stolen by Siegfried Nibelung - (German mythology) a companion or follower of Siegfried Siegfried - (German mythology) mythical German warrior hero of the Nibelungenlied who takes possession of the accursed treasure of the Nibelungs by slaying the dragon that guards it and awakens Brynhild and is eventually killed; Sigurd is the Norse counterpart Wayland, Wayland the Smith, Wieland - (European mythology) a supernatural smith and king of the elves; identified with Norse Volund Teutonic deity - (German mythology) a deity worshipped by the ancient Teutons Anglo-Saxon deity - (Anglo-Saxon mythology) a deity worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons Brunhild, Brunnhilde, Brynhild - a Valkyrie or a queen in the Nibelungenlied who loved the hero Siegfried; when he deceived her she had him killed and then committed suicide thunderbird - (mythology) the spirit of thunder and lightning believed by some Native Americans to take the shape of a great bird
	2.	mythology - the study of myths cultural anthropology, social anthropology - the branch of anthropology that deals with human culture and society mythology - myths collectively; the body of stories associated with a culture or institution or person

mythology

noun

A body of traditional beliefs and notions accumulated about a particular subject:

folklore, legend, lore, myth, mythos, tradition.

Translations

عِلْمُ الْأَسَاطِيرِميثولوجيا: عِلْم الأساطير

mytologiemythologie

mytologi

mitologio

mytologia

mitologija

mitológia

goîafræîi; goîsagnir

mitologia

神話体系

신화

mitologie

mytológia

mitologija

mytologi

ตำนาน

mitoloji

міфологія

thần thoại học

神话

mythology

[mɪˈθɒlədʒɪ] N → mitología f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

mythology

n → Mythologie f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

mythology

[mɪˈθɒlədʒɪ] n → mitologia

myth

(miθ) noun

an ancient, fictional story, especially one dealing with gods, heroes etc.

ˈmythical adjective

ˈmythically adverb

mythology (miˈθolədʒi) noun

(a collection of) myths.

ˌmythoˈlogical (-ˈlo-) adjective

mythology

→ عِلْمُ الْأَسَاطِيرِ mytologie mytologi Mythologie μυθολογία mitología mytologia mythologie mitologija mitologia 神話体系 신화 mythologie mytologi mitologia mitologia мифология mytologi ตำนาน mitoloji thần thoại học 神话

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

The Danites, taking their name from the avenging angels of the Mormon mythology, sprang up in the mountains of the Great West and spread over the Pacific Coast from Panama to Alaska.

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In the discussion about religion and mythology, Adeimantus is the respondent, but Glaucon breaks in with a slight jest, and carries on the conversation in a lighter tone about music and gymnastic to the end of the book.

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Nearly all oblong or circular, and as if traced with the compass, they seem to form one vast archipelago, equal to that charming group lying between Greece and Asia Minor, and which mythology in ancient times adorned with most graceful legends.

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This conduct in writing is placed in a very proper light by the ingenious Abbe Bannier, in his preface to his Mythology, a work of great erudition and of equal judgment.

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One would think that this was enough for one day, but Mynheer Boxtel did not seem to think so, as, in addition to having his clothes torn, his back bruised, and his hands scratched, he inflicted upon himself the further punishment of tearing out his hair by handfuls, as an offering to that goddess of envy who, as mythology teaches us, wears a head-dress of serpents.

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There is a truer amount of it in mythology than in any history of America, so called, that I have seen.

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It dates back to the shadowy ages of tradition, and was the birthplace of gods renowned in Grecian mythology. The idea of a locomotive tearing through such a place as this, and waking the phantoms of its old days of romance out of their dreams of dead and gone centuries, is curious enough.

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He is arguing 'ad hominem' according to the notions of mythology current in his age.

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He wrote a Handbook of Mythology, from which the extant work bearing his name is derived.

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At one time we are in the clouds of mythology, at another among the abstractions of mathematics or metaphysics; we pass imperceptibly from one to the other.

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Nearer yet to town, you come to Breed's location, on the other side of the way, just on the edge of the wood; ground famous for the pranks of a demon not distinctly named in old mythology, who has acted a prominent and astounding part in our New England life, and deserves, as much as any mythological character, to have his biography written one day; who first comes in the guise of a friend or hired man, and then robs and murders the whole family -- New-England Rum.

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In the mythology of the savage, these mountains were afterwards considered sacred and inaccessible, full of unearthly wonders, illuminated at lofty heights by the blaze of precious stones, and inhabited by deities, who sometimes shrouded themselves in the snowstorm and came down on the lower world.

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