mythology

The word “mythology” means a traditional body of myths belonging to a particular culture, explaining its origins, gods, ancestors, and heroes. In plain terms, a culture's collection of traditional stories about gods and heroes — or, more loosely, a set of popular beliefs that aren't actually true.

“Mythology” is pronounced mih-THOL-uh-jee (/mɪˈθɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/ in IPA).

Here is “mythology” used in a sentence: “Greek mythology is full of gods who behave more like flawed humans than perfect deities.”

Words with a similar meaning to “mythology” include godlore.

“Mythology” is a noun.

The word “mythology” comes from Latin. From Middle French mythologie, from Latin mythologia, from Greek mythos ("story") plus -logia ("study of").

“Mythology” is an uncommon word in modern English, usually learned at around the C1 level.

“Mythology” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a traditional body of myths belonging to a particular culture, explaining its origins, gods, ancestors, and heroes.

A myth is a single traditional story, while mythology refers to the whole traditional body of myths belonging to a particular culture, explaining its origins, gods, ancestors, and heroes collectively. Mythology is the larger system or collection; a myth is one story within it.

Yes, "mythology" can also mean a set of widely believed ideas about something that are false or exaggerated, such as "the mythology surrounding a celebrity's rise to fame." This modern figurative usage doesn't involve gods or ancient cultures at all.

Yes, mythology can also refer to the academic study of myths and how they are structured and used across cultures, distinct from the myths themselves. Scholars in this field analyze recurring patterns, symbols, and functions of myths in society.