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mythology

- 5 dictionary results

my⋅thol⋅o⋅gy

[mi-thol-uh-jee]
–noun, plural -gies.
1. a body of myths, as that of a particular people or that relating to a particular person: Greek mythology.
2. myths collectively.
3. the science or study of myths.
4. a set of stories, traditions, or beliefs associated with a particular group or the history of an event, arising naturally or deliberately fostered: the Fascist mythology of the interwar years.

Origin:
1375–1425; late ME mythologie < LL mȳthologia < Gk mȳthología. See mytho-, -logy
my·thol·o·gy   (mĭ-thŏl'ə-jē)   
n.   pl. my·thol·o·gies
    1. A body or collection of myths belonging to a people and addressing their origin, history, deities, ancestors, and heroes.
    2. 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).
  1. 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 + -logiā, -logy.]
my·thol'o·gist n.

Mythology

My*thol"o*gy\, n.; pl. Mythologies. [F. mythologie, L. mythologia, Gr. myqologi`a; my^qos, fable, myth + lo`gos speech, discourse.]

1. The science which treats of myths; a treatise on myths.

2. A body of myths; esp., the collective myths which describe the gods of a heathen people; as, the mythology of the Greeks.
Language Translation for : mythology
Spanish: mitología,
German: die Mythologie,
Japanese: 神話集

mythology

The body of myths belonging to a culture. Myths are traditional stories about gods and heroes. They often account for the basic aspects of existence — explaining, for instance, how the Earth was created, why people have to die, or why the year is divided into seasons. Classical mythology — the myths of the ancient Greeks and Romans — has had an enormous influence on European and American culture.


mythology 
1412, "exposition of myths," from M.Fr. mythologie, from L.L. mythologia, from Gk. mythologia "legendary lore," from mythos "myth" (of unknown origin) + -logy "study." Meaning "a body of myths" first recorded 1781.
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