Sunday, March 16, 2008

Eu·he·mer·ism

Pronunciation Key - [yoo-hee-muh-riz-uhm, -hem-uh-]

–noun

1. The theory of Euhemerus that the mythologies of various gods arose out of the deification of dead heroes.

2. The theory that mythology is derived from history.

Origin: 1840–50;
eu·he·mer·ist, noun
eu·he·mer·is·tic, adjective
eu·he·mer·is·ti·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.