definitions
  • synonyms

polytheism

[ pol-ee-thee-iz-uh m, pol-ee-thee-iz-uh m ]
/ ˈpɒl i θiˌɪz əm, ˌpɒl iˈθi ɪz əm /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR polytheism ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

RELATED WORDS

atheist, agnostic, doubter, unbeliever, infidel, heretic, skeptic, iconoclast, heathen, freethinker, scoffer, idolater, pantheist, paganist

Nearby words

polytechnic, polytendinitis, polytene, polytene chromosome, polytetrafluoroethylene, polytheism, polytheist, polytheistic, polythelia, polythene, polythiazide

Origin of polytheism

1605–15; poly- + theism; compare French polythéisme
Related formspol·y·the·ist, nounpol·y·the·is·tic, pol·y·the·is·ti·cal, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for polytheist

  • As poet and artist I am polytheist; as a student of Nature I am pantheist.

    The Faust-Legend and Goethe's 'Faust'|H. B. Cotterill

  • The polytheist peoples the world with a variety of gods and goddesses, which enter into its machinery more or less independently.

    The Riddle of the Universe at the close of the nineteenth century|Ernst Haeckel

  • When a believer in two is a polytheist, how can a believer in six be a monotheist?

    Letters from a Sf Teacher|Shaikh Sharfuddn Maner

British Dictionary definitions for polytheist

polytheism

/ (ˈpɒlɪθiːˌɪzəm, ˌpɒlɪˈθiːɪzəm) /

noun

the worship of or belief in more than one god
Derived Formspolytheist, nounpolytheistic, adjectivepolytheistically, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Culture definitions for polytheist

polytheism

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

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.