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

But these mythologies, just like my great-grandfather’s, are misleading. —Peter Vanham, Fortune, 6 Sep. 2024

But for all the shoots that use the city as a backdrop, there are few that actually center it as a dynamic metropolis worthy of its own mythology. —Alison Herman, Variety, 5 Sep. 2024

New York’s mythology is full of artist collectives, those ragtag groups of poets, painters, musicians, or actors, gathered in some grand, decaying ballroom, deeply engrossed in dialogues and diatribes on life and living. —Taran Dugal, Rolling Stone, 4 Sep. 2024

Troy, Turkey Troy, the city at the heart of Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid, is one of the most legendary sites of classical Greek mythology. —Shoshi Parks, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 Sep. 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