polytheism

See also: poly-theism and poly theism

English

Wikiquote

Etymology

From French polythéisme, from Ancient Greek πολύς (polús, “many”) and θεός (theós, “god”), corresponding to poly- +‎ theism.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɒl.ɪˈθiː.ɪz.əm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

polytheism (countable and uncountable, plural polytheisms)

1. The belief in the existence of multiple gods.
   • 1734, George Sale, transl., Alcoran of Mohammed:

     And remember when Lokmân said unto his son, as he admonished him, Oh my son, give not a partner unto GOD; for polytheism is a great impiety.

2. A religion or belief system with multiple gods.
   • 1941, George Ryley Scott, Phallic Worship: A History of Sex and Sex Rites in Relation to the Religions of All Races from Antiquity to the Present Day, London: T. Werner Laurie, page 14:

     The Chaldeans worshipped the seven planets. These seven planets were the "Seven Great Gods" of the ancients, and constituted a polytheism, the component members of which varied in importance, with the moon occupying the premier position.

Related terms

• polydeism
• polydeist
• polytheist
• polytheistic
• polytheistical
• polytheistically

Translations

belief in the existence of multiple gods

• Arabic: شِرْك (širk), تَعَدُّد الْآلِهَة (taʕaddud al-ʔāliha)
• Armenian: բազմաստվածություն (hy) (bazmastvacutʻyun), պոլիթեիզմ (hy) (politʻeizm)
• Asturian: politeísmu (ast) m
• Azerbaijani: politeizm, çoxallahlılıq, çoxtanrıçılıq
• Belarusian: шматбо́жжа n (šmatbóžža), мнагабо́жжа n (mnahabóžža), палітэі́зм m (paliteízm)
• Bengali: বহুঈশ্বরবাদ (bohuiśśorbad)
• Breton: liesdoueegezh (br) f
• Bulgarian: политеи́зъм m (politeízǎm), многобожие n (mnogobožie)
• Catalan: politeisme (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 多神教 (do¹ san⁴ gaau³)

  Mandarin: 多神教 (zh) (duōshénjiào)

• Czech: polyteismus m, mnohobožství (cs) n
• Danish: polyteisme
• Dutch: polytheïsme (nl) n
• Esperanto: politeismo
• Estonian: polüteism
• Finnish: monijumalisuus (fi), polyteismi (fi)
• French: polythéisme (fr) m
• Galician: politeísmo (gl) m
• Georgian: პოლითეიზმი (ṗoliteizmi), მრავალღმერთიანობა (mravalɣmertianoba)
• German: Polytheismus (de) m
• Greek: πολυθεϊσμός (el) m (polytheïsmós)
• Hebrew: פוליתאיזם
• Hindi: बहुदेववाद (hi) (bahudevvād)
• Hungarian: politeizmus (hu)
• Icelandic: fjölgyðistrú f
• Ido: politeismo (io)
• Indonesian: politeisme (id)
• Irish: ildiachas m
• Italian: politeismo (it)
• Japanese: 多神教 (ja) (たしんきょう, tashinkyō)
• Kazakh: көпқұдайлық (köpqūdailyq), көптәңірлік (köptäñırlık)
• Khmer: ពហុទេពនិយម (pea’hu’ teep ni’yum)
• Korean: 다신교 (ko) (dasin'gyo), 다신론 (ko) (dasillon)
• Latvian: politeisms
• Lithuanian: politeizmas
• Macedonian: многубо́штво n (mnogubóštvo), политеи́зам m (politeízam)
• Maltese: politeiżmu m
• Manx: yl-jeeaghys
• Occitan: politeïsme (oc) m
• Persian: چندخدایی (čand-xodâyi), شرک (fa) (šerk)
• Polish: politeizm (pl) m inan, wielobóstwo (pl) n
• Portuguese: politeísmo (pt) m
• Romanian: politeism (ro) n
• Russian: политеи́зм (ru) m (politɛízm), многобо́жие (ru) n (mnogobóžije)
• Scottish Gaelic: ioma-dhiadhachd f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: политеизам m, многобоштво n

  Roman: politeizam (sh) m, mnogoboštvo (sh) n

• Slovak: mnohobožstvo n, polyteizmus m
• Slovene: politeizem (sl) m
• Spanish: politeísmo (es) m
• Swahili: upolitheisti, ushirikina
• Swedish: polyteism (sv) c
• Tajik: please add this translation if you can
• Tamil: please add this translation if you can
• Telugu: please add this translation if you can
• Thai: พหุเทวนิยม (th) (pá-hù tay-wá-ní-yom)
• Turkish: politeizm (tr), çoktanrıcılık (tr)
• Ukrainian: політеї́зм m (politejízm), багатобо́жжя (uk) n (bahatobóžžja)
• Urdu: شرک (širk), کثرت پرستی (kasrat parastī), بت پرستی (but parastī, literally “'Idol Worship'”)
• Uyghur: كۆپ خۇدالىق دىن (köp xudaliq din)
• Vietnamese: thuyết đa thần (說多神)
• Volapük: mödagod
• Welsh: amldduwiaeth f
• Yiddish: פּאַליטייזאַם (paliteyzam)

See also

• atheism
• henotheism
• kathenotheism
• monotheism
• pantheon
• theism

Anagrams

• polyethism