theomania

American  

[thee-oh-mey-nee-uh, -meyn-yuh] / ˌθi oʊˈmeɪ ni ə, -ˈmeɪn yə /

noun

1. a delusional mental illness in which a person believes that they are to be God or specially chosen by God, as to found a religious order.

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theomania British  

/ ˌθɪəˈmeɪnɪə /

noun

1. religious madness, esp when it takes the form of believing oneself to be a god

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Other Word Forms

• theomaniac noun

Etymology

Origin of theomania

First recorded in 1850–55; New Latin; theo- + -mania

Example Sentences

Dæmonomania differs widely from the mental disease called Theomania.

From Project Gutenberg

Theomania, thē-ō-mā′ni-a, n. a madman's belief that he himself is God, or that God dwells in him.—n.

From Project Gutenberg

Theomā′niac, one who shows theomania.

From Project Gutenberg

It seems evident, then, that all the phenomena of animal magnetism have been from an early period known to mankind under the various forms of divinatory ecstasy, demonopathy or witchmania, theomania, or fanatical religious excitation, spontaneous catalepsy, and somnambulism.

From Project Gutenberg

It is plain, however, that the theopaths, as James calls them, or victims of theomania, to use the French phrase, will be of importance in this analysis because of the equivocal character of the emotions felt in cases of religious delusion.

From Project Gutenberg