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• Pantheon
  Pantheon

  noun

  a domed circular temple at Rome, erected a.d. 120–124 by Hadrian, used as a church since a.d.
• Panthéon
  Panthéon

  noun

  a national monument in Paris, France, used as a sepulcher for eminent French persons, begun in 1764 by Soufflot as the church of Ste. Geneviève and secularized in 1885.
• pantheon
  pantheon

  noun

  (esp in ancient Greece or Rome) a temple to all the gods

Pantheon

¹ American  

[pan-thee-on, -uhn, pan-thee-uhn] / ˈpæn θiˌɒn, -ən, pænˈθi ən /

noun

1. a domed circular temple at Rome, erected a.d. 120–124 by Hadrian, used as a church since a.d.

2. (lowercase) a public building containing tombs or memorials of the illustrious dead of a nation.

3. (lowercase) the place of the heroes or idols of any group, individual, movement, party, etc., or the heroes or idols themselves.

   to earn a place in the pantheon of American literature.

4. (lowercase) a temple dedicated to all the gods.

5. (lowercase) the gods of a particular mythology considered collectively.

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Panthéon ² American  

[pahn-tay-awn] / pɑ̃ teɪˈɔ̃ /

noun

1. a national monument in Paris, France, used as a sepulcher for eminent French persons, begun in 1764 by Soufflot as the church of Ste. Geneviève and secularized in 1885.

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pantheon ¹ British  

/ pænˈθiːən, ˈpænθɪən /

noun

1. (esp in ancient Greece or Rome) a temple to all the gods

2. all the gods collectively of a religion

3. a monument or building commemorating a nation's dead heroes

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Pantheon ² British  

/ pænˈθiːən, ˈpænθɪən /

noun

1. a circular temple in Rome dedicated to all the gods, built by Agrippa in 27 _bc , rebuilt by Hadrian 120–24 _ad , and used since 609 _ad as a Christian church

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Other Word Forms

• pantheonic
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of Pantheon

1375–1425; late Middle English panteon < Latin Panthēon < Greek Pántheion, noun use of neuter of pántheios of all gods, equivalent to pan- pan- + the ( ós ) god + -ios adj. suffix

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Explanation

In the pantheon of great movie stars, Marilyn Monroe might well be considered the brightest of them all. The actual Pantheon was a temple built by the Romans — but we use it to mean any group of exalted figures. To place someone in a pantheon is to decide that they belong to a "club" whose members are all only the greatest people to have done the same thing. It's like a little temple of little gods. Tiger Woods, for example, definitely belongs in the pantheon of great golfers –– alongside Palmer, Nicklaus and Singh. If you want to see the real Pantheon, that is the building itself with the world's oldest concrete dome, then you'll have to go to Rome.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Pantheon Panthéon pantheon

But other analysts, like Oliver Allen, senior U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, thinks wage growth will soften along with weak hiring.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026

“I rank it as a big vulnerability in France,” said Claus Vistesen, chief eurozone economist at research firm Pantheon Macroeconomics.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

Pantheon Macro described the move as the largest stimulus in two years.

From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026

McCulloch said the Warner Bros store was one of a growing number of "major investments" on Oxford Street, alongside Puma, Space NK, M&S Pantheon and Zara having either opened or expanded on the street.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

It would keep swinging, she understood, after she and her father left the Pantheon, after she had fallen asleep that night.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

In 1989, during the French revolutionary bicentennial celebrations, Condorcet was symbolically interred in the Panthéon, but Brissot, who advocated the export of the revolution to other nations by force, remains a less-celebrated figure.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026

French President Emmanuel Macron is seeking to change that by inducting Manouchian into the Panthéon national monument on Wednesday.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 20, 2024

Mélinée, also a member of the Resistance who survived the war, will be buried alongside her husband at the Panthéon.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 20, 2024

In 2019, the Panthéon — a heavily freighted monument to France that was commissioned by Louis XV and finished during the Revolution — was stormed by hundreds of undocumented migrants, most from West Africa.

From New York Times ● Apr. 14, 2022

We heard the sound of voices without understanding the words exchanged, then I heard this command: 'To the Panthéon!'

From History of the Commune of 1871 by P. Lissagary

Where losing a 4-0 advantage ranks in the pantheon of Celtic failures is a moot point.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

But in a pantheon of colourful characters, Count Binface, a man wearing a rubbish bin over his head, is stealing the show.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

“I’m drawn to police detectives, not private detectives,” he says, pointing to the duty-bound, badge-wearing protagonist in “Cure,” a Criterion-anointed classic now held in the same pantheon of serial killer tales as “Seven” and “Manhunter.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

Susan Morrison’s new biography of the “SNL” creator, “Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live,” places Michaels into the same single-name pantheon as his pals Mick and Paul.

From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026

Mesoamerica would deserve its place in the human pantheon if its inhabitants had only created maize, in terms of harvest weight the world’s most important crop.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

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Related Words

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