mythology

noun

my·​thol·​o·​gy mi-ˈthä-lə-jē 

plural mythologies

1

: an allegorical narrative

2

: a body of myths: such as

a

: the myths dealing with the gods, demigods, and legendary heroes of a particular people

b

: mythos sense 2

cold war mythology

3

: a branch of knowledge that deals with myth

4

: a popular belief or assumption that has grown up around someone or something : myth sense 2a

defective mythologies that ignore masculine depth of feeling

—Robert Bly

mythologer

mi-ˈthä-lə-jər 

noun

mythologist

mi-ˈthä-lə-jist 

noun

Synonyms

• folklore
• legend
• legendry
• lore
• myth
• mythos
• tradition

Examples of mythology in a Sentence

We have been studying ancient Greek mythology.

We compared the two cultures' mythologies.

There is a popular mythology that he discovered the cause of the disease by himself.

Recent Examples on the Web

For all the identifiable music in his catalog, a mythology arose around his drinking, the drugs, the fights with Audrey and his concert no-shows. —Tom Roland, Billboard, 16 Sep. 2023

But now more people are about to know her name, which originated in Norse mythology as the name of Loki’s mother. —Maura Judkis, Washington Post, 14 Sep. 2023

If anything, Saturday’s win only reinforced the mythology of Nix magic. —Bill Oram, oregonlive, 10 Sep. 2023

In Hindu mythology, the god Shiva tied the waterway to Earth with his matted locks; a priest told me that to approach the temple via the tangle of pedestrian lanes that have surrounded it for centuries was to climb those locks. —Daniel Brook, The New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2023

The Austrian definition shaped literary vampire mythology. —Franz Lidz, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2023

The legend of Plath is inextricable from the visual mythology of postwar prosperity—white picket fences, images of John and Jackie Kennedy sailing—that developed alongside the baby boom. —Rafaela Bassili, The Atlantic, 5 Sep. 2023

The daughter of a successful artist, and the only female follower of Caravaggio, Gentileschi painted big, dramatic renderings of scenes from the Bible and mythology, which were popular at the time. —Jillian Steinhauer, The New Republic, 21 Aug. 2023

While the original American character was inspired by Greek mythology and portrayed him as ruler of Atlantis, the new version sets him as king of Tlalocan, the paradise of the Mexica god of rain, Tláloc. —Rodrigo Cervantes, Los Angeles Times, 14 Aug. 2023

See More

Word History

Etymology

Middle English methologie, mithologie "exposition of a myth, book of myths," borrowed from Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French mythologie, borrowed from Late Latin mȳthologia (in Mythologiae, title of a myth compilation by Fulgentius, ca. 500), borrowed from Greek mȳthología "fiction, storytelling," from mŷthos "utterance, tale, myth" + -o- -o- + -logia -logy

First Known Use

1603, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

mythology

noun

my·​thol·​o·​gy mith-ˈäl-ə-jē 

plural mythologies

1

: a collection of myths

especially : the myths dealing with the gods and heroes of a particular people

Greek mythology

2

: a branch of knowledge that deals with myths

mythological

ˌmith-ə-ˈläj-i-kəl

adjective