polytheism

American  

[pol-ee-thee-iz-uhm, pol-ee-thee-iz-uhm] / ˈpɒl i θiˌɪz əm, ˌpɒl iˈθi ɪz əm /

noun

1. the doctrine of or belief in more than one god or in many gods.

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polytheism British  

/ ˈpɒlɪθiːˌɪzəm, ˌpɒlɪˈθiːɪzəm /

noun

1. the worship of or belief in more than one god

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polytheism Cultural  

1. The belief in more than one god. The ancient Greeks, for example, were polytheists; their gods included Apollo, Athena, Dionysus, and Zeus. (Compare monotheism.)

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Other Word Forms

• polytheist noun
• polytheistic adjective
• polytheistical adjective
• polytheistically adverb

Etymology

Origin of polytheism

1605–15; poly- + theism; compare French polythéisme

Example Sentences

The opera ends with Akhnaten’s son, presumably Tutankhamun, restoring polytheism, and then, once the staging jumps millennia into the future, it’s rediscovered by modern-day tourists.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 5, 2026

The peninsula was home to those practicing Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrian, and polytheism.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

This new religious culture resulted in the neglect of traditional Roman polytheism, and the empire’s eastward shift came at the expense of the western empire.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

A tragicomedy about polytheism starring petty gods who complain like tired parents annoyed by their noisy children.

From Salon • Apr. 12, 2014

At that period the urban masses, but recently converted to Christianity, sought in the worship of the martyrs a sort of substitute for polytheism.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 9 "Dagupan" to "David" by Various