polytheism
Meaningbelief in many gods
Common meaning: belief in many gods
- polymuch; manyLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 658 · scan
- thea godLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 668 · scan
- ismnoun ending: belief or practice
‘much’ + ‘a god’ → polytheism
Journey through time
Neither part’s path through time is traced in our sources yet; each root is shown from its dictionary entry.
- poly — Ancient Greek πολύς (polús) “much; many” (dictionary form; path not traced)
- the — Ancient Greek θεός (theós) “a god” (dictionary form; path not traced)
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Ancient Greek πολύς (polús) ‘much; many’ + Ancient Greek θεός (theós) ‘a god’.
Did you know (Greek polys, "many",…): our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), entry πολύς (polús), p. 658 · dictionary scan
Did you know (Greek theos, a…): our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), entry θεός (theós), p. 668 · dictionary scan
Roots
- θεός (theós) Ancient Greek “a god”
- πολύς (polús) Ancient Greek “much; many”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app