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polytheism

[pol-ee-thee-iz-uhm, pol-ee-thee-iz-uhm]

Example Sentences Origin

noun

the doctrine of or belief in more than one god or in many gods.

Origin:
1605–15; poly- + theism; compare French polythéisme

Related forms

pol·y·the·ist, noun

pol·y·the·is·tic, pol·y·the·is·ti·cal, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Polytheism is always a great word to know.

So is slumgullion. Does it mean:

a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

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Example Sentences

Hindus believe in many gods or god in many forms, which is polytheism.

From this evolved polytheism and then monotheisms.

Animism is passing into polytheism.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

polytheism (ˈpɒlɪθiːˌɪzəm, ˌpɒlɪˈθiːɪzəm)

—n
	the worship of or belief in more than one god

'polytheist

—n

polythe'istic

—*adj*

polythe'istically

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

polytheism

1613, from Fr. polythéisme (16c.), formed from Gk. polytheos "of many gods," from polys "many" (see poly-) + theos "god" (see Thea). Polytheist first attested 1619.

American Heritage

Cultural Dictionary

polytheism definition

The belief in more than one god. The ancient Greeks, for example, were polytheists; their gods included Apollo, Athena, Dionysus, and Zeus. (Compare monotheism.)

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"Paganism can be defined as the elevation of a special space to ultimate value and dignity. Paganism has a god who is bound to one place beside and against other places. Therefore, paganism necessarily is polytheistic.... Space means more than a piece of soil. It includes everything which has the character of "beside-each-otherness." Examples of spatial concepts are blood and race, clan, tribe, and family. We know how powerful the gods are who give ultimate dignity and value to a special race and to a special community of blood. In all of them the "beside-each-otherness" is dominating. Human culture is rooted in these realities, and it is not surprising that they always have received adoration, consciously and unconsciously, by those who belong to them, and consequently that they always have claimed universal validity. Modern nationalism is the actual form in which space is ruling over time, in which polytheism is a daily reality. Nobody can deny the tremendous creativity of national community. Nobody would be willing to deprive himself of the physical and psychological space which is his nation."

-Paul Tillich

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polytheism

pol·y·the·ism

polytheism definition