polytheism
Polytheism names the stance that many gods exist, usually placed opposite monotheism and opposite views that reject deity as such.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)Definitions
- A religious or philosophical claim that divinity is plural: many divine beings are acknowledged instead of a single exclusive God.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - In comparative religion: a descriptive class for pantheons and multi-deity cults, lined up beside monotheism (one God), henotheism (one preferred deity with others still admitted), and atheism.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - In journalism and casual speech: a shorthand for mythology, a pantheon, or alleged idol worship, often without a careful theological cut.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)
Examples
- In class they set polytheism next to monotheism so that a multi-deity cult would not be confused with faith in a single God.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - Her paper follows how early modern writers attacked polytheism while cataloguing regional pantheons and local myths.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - The column used polytheism as a stand-in for "Olympian religion", not as a strict philosophical category.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - He weighed polytheism against henotheism and monotheism, asking where plural gods stop and exclusive devotion to one deity (with other gods still on the table) starts.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - The handbook tells readers not to swap polytheism for pantheism: the latter equates God with the world as a whole, not with a roster of personal deities.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)
Usage
In ordinary English polytheism often means "many gods", a tag for Greek or Norse pantheons, or a simple foil to monotheism. Scholarly prose gains clarity when three layers stay apart: the metaphysical claim that deities are many, a comparative slot beside monotheism, henotheism, pantheism and atheism, and a polemical badge in culture wars. Sermons and pamphlets smear those layers together. Say plainly whether you mean a doctrine, a cult practice, or a rhetorical jab. Otherwise the word melts into mythology, folklore and personal theism.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)Webster 1913 builds Polytheism from Poly- plus the Greek term for god (cf. French polythéisme) and glosses it as the doctrine of, or belief in, a plurality of gods. Polytheist is the adherent; Polytheistic is the adjective. Skeat 1910 under POLYTHEISM gives plurality of gods, a formation from πολύς + θεός + -ism, pointing to POLY- and THEISM, and lists polytheist and polytheistical among derivatives. Those public-domain lemmas supply the lexical facts; the wording here is written separately.
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Editorial team; facts: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913; W. W. Skeat, An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 1910, open sourceFrequent pairings are religious polytheism, classical polytheism, critique of polytheism, tradition of polytheism, and debate over polytheism. As a noun polytheist labels someone who holds the view; polytheistic and polytheistical serve as adjectives. Careful writers keep the lemma clear of monotheism (one God), henotheism (one exalted deity with others still allowed), bare theism talk about a personal Creator, pantheism (divinity equated with the cosmos), and atheism (denial or absence of belief in deity). Borders still shift by author.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)Morphologically the noun joins Greek poly- ("many", πολύς) to the theism family (θεός with the -ism ending), and Webster notes the French twin polythéisme. Webster already carries Polytheism, Polytheist and Polytheistic; Skeat records POLYTHEISM as the πολύς + θεός + -ism coinage with the polytheist set. Our senses lean on those open sources plus editorial wording, not on a modern encyclopaedia paraphrase. Treating the label as poetic myth talk alone softens the claim that many gods truly exist.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)Word forms
Regular English noun, usually uncountable; the plural polytheisms is rare and marks distinct kinds or regional versions of the stance.
word forms
| przypadek | forma |
|---|---|
| singular | polytheism |
| plural | polytheisms |
Word forms: Editorial team
Collocations
- religious polytheism
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - classical polytheism
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - critique of polytheism
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - tradition of polytheism
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address) - debate over polytheism
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)
Synonyms · Antonyms
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913, open sourcesource
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913, open sourceEtymology
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913, open sourcealso
W. W. Skeat, An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., Oxford 1910, open sourceRelated words
- polytheist , noun: person who holds polytheism (Webster 1913 Polytheist; Skeat POLYTHEISM derivatives)
- polytheistic , adjective: pertaining to polytheism (Webster 1913 Polytheistic; Skeat polytheistical)
- monotheism , related noun (contrastive): claim that only one God exists (Webster 1913 Monotheism)
- theism , related noun (contrastive): affirmation of God, often personal and distinct from creation
- pantheism , related noun (contrastive): divinity equated with the cosmos, not a list of personal gods
- atheism , related noun (contrastive): denial or lack of belief in deity, not affirmation of many gods
- politeizm , etymologically related Polish noun
Related entries
The same entry in Polish: politeizm
Questions and answers
What does polytheism mean?
In philosophy and comparative religion it names the claim or belief that many gods exist. A tighter register uses it as a typology slot against monotheism, henotheism, pantheism and atheism. Outside campus talk it can mean mythology, a pantheon, or a charge of idol worship. Scope follows register.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)How does polytheism differ from monotheism, henotheism and pantheism?
Monotheism affirms a single God. Henotheism usually elevates one deity in cult while still granting that other gods exist or matter. Pantheism equates divinity with the cosmos rather than with a roster of personal gods. Polytheism here centres on plurality of gods. Casual speech often blurs the labels.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)Is polytheism identical with mythology?
No. Mythology names a body of myths or their study. Polytheism names a doctrinal or comparative claim that gods are many. Classical myths often portray multi-deity pantheons, yet the two labels still pick different objects: stories versus a claim about deity.
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Editorial team (in-house source, no external address)Where does the word polytheism come from?
The formation joins Greek poly- ("many", πολύς) to theism (θεός plus -ism), with French polythéisme noted by Webster. Webster 1913 opens Polytheism from Poly- + the Greek word for god and lists Polytheist and Polytheistic; the sense is plurality of gods. Skeat 1910 has POLYTHEISM from πολύς + θεός + -ism, with polytheist derivatives. The English lemma follows that Greek path.