mythos

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the body of myths, stories, and symbols associated with a culture, religion, tradition, or fictional world

   The novel draws its monsters and rituals from the mythos of ancient Mesopotamia.

2. 2
   noun

   a myth or traditional narrative, especially one conveying a culture's beliefs or values

   The closing mythos describes a soul's judgment and journey into another life.

3. 3
   noun

   a pattern of beliefs, values, or assumptions that expresses a group's characteristic worldview

   The frontier mythos continues to shape the country's ideas about independence and risk.

4. 4
   noun

   in literature and criticism, a plot, theme, or recurring narrative pattern

   The critic reads the hero's exile and return as a mythos of renewal.

Borrowed through Late Latin mythos from Ancient Greek mythos ("utterance, tale, story, legend"), a word of uncertain deeper origin. It is a learned doublet of myth. The Latinized singular variant mythus also occurs; the Greek plural mythoi is common in scholarly use.

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