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

Few bands have inspired such complicated or closely studied mythology. —Mark Leibovich, The Atlantic, 31 Mar. 2025

Tweaking the age-old mythology of a creature that’s graced biblical passages, Renaissance paintings and many a tween’s backpack, filmmaker Alex Scharfman’s debut does manage to rebrand the unicorn as something other than kid-friendly. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 28 Mar. 2025

Ancient Egyptian mythology held that Abydos served as the burial place for Osiris, god of the underworld. —Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 27 Mar. 2025

Not unlike his character Frank Sheeran in The Irishman, De Niro’s Frank Costello/Vito Genovese doubling is similarly a self-reflexive casting that aims for a larger comment on the mythology of the mafia film, a mythology that Levinson concomitantly pairs with the mythology of America. —Gregory Nussen, Deadline, 21 Mar. 2025

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

Rhymes for mythology

• anthology
• apology
• astrology
• biology
• christology
• chronology
• conchology
• cosmology
• cryptology
• cytology
• doxology
• ecology

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