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

Inspired by Greek mythology, the treatments here combine Ayurvedic healing with indigenous Kéan botanicals. —Felicity Carter, Forbes, 3 Sep. 2024

In short order, we’re introduced to a roll call of Greek mythology’s MVPs, among them Medusa (Debi Mazar), Orpheus and Euridyce (Killian Scott and Aurora Perrineau) and Ariadne (Leila Farzad), whose paths will collide in an epic climax. —K.j. Yossman, Variety, 11 Aug. 2024

The scene received backlash online after some conservatives perceived it to be mocking Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting The Last Supper, but Olympics artistic director Thomas Jolly later confirmed on French network BFM-TV that the scene was actually inspired by Greek mythology. —EW.com, 3 Aug. 2024

This aligns the performance more with ancient mythology than with Christian traditions, even though van Bijlert was likely inspired by Leonardo’s painting. —Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 29 July 2024

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