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mythology

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

9 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "mythology", 9-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "mythology" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "mythology" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

mythology is aEnglishnoun. It means: The collection of myths of a people, concerning the origin of the people, history, deities, ancestors and heroes. Pronounced /mɪˈθɒl.ə.d͡ʒi/.

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Key facts for mythology
PropertyValue
Headwordmythology
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/mɪˈθɒl.ə.d͡ʒi/
Letters9
Frequency rank#12,282
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of mythology in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for mythology is 9 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /mɪˈθɒl.ə.d͡ʒi/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,282 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 15 documented wrong-spelling variants for mythology, with forms such as "mmythology", "mtyhology", and "myhtology". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: First attested as Middle English in 1412. From Middle French mythologie, from Latin mythologia, from Ancient Greek μυθολογία (muthología, “legend”) μυθολογέω (muthologéō, “to tell tales”), from μυθολόγος (muthológos, “legend”), from μῦθος (mûthos, “story”) … Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is mythology, spelled M-Y-T-H-O-L-O-G-Y, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The collection of myths of a people, concerning the origin of the people, history, deities, ancestors and heroes.
  2. 2
    A similar body of myths concerning an event, person or institution.
  3. 3
    Pervasive elements of a fictional universe that resemble a mythological universe.
  4. 4
    The set of misconceptions and false attitudes that are held about something and contribute to its perception.
  5. 5
    The systematic collection and study of myths.

Etymology

First attested as Middle English in 1412. From Middle French mythologie, from Latin mythologia, from Ancient Greek μυθολογία (muthología, “legend”) μυθολογέω (muthologéō, “to tell tales”), from μυθολόγος (muthológos, “legend”), from μῦθος (mûthos, “story”) + λέγω (légō, “to say”). By surface analysis, myth + -ology or mytho- + -logy.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: mmythology,mtyhology,myhtology,mythhology,mythloogy,mytholgoy,mythollogy,mythologgy,mythologyy,mytholoyg,mythoolgy,mytohlogy,mytthology,myythology,ymthology

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for mythology

Misspelling Variants of "mythology"

mmythology10mtyhology9myhtology9mythhology10mythloogy9mytholgoy9mythollogy10mythologgy10
Misspelling Variants of "mythology"

Frequency rank: #12,282 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "mythology"?
"mythology" is spelled M-Y-T-H-O-L-O-G-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /mɪˈθɒl.ə.d͡ʒi/.
What does "mythology" mean?
As a noun, "mythology" means: The collection of myths of a people, concerning the origin of the people, history, deities, ancestors and heroes.
What are common misspellings of "mythology"?
Common misspellings include "mmythology", "mtyhology", "myhtology", "mythhology", "mythloogy". The correct spelling is "mythology".
How do you pronounce "mythology"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mythology" is /mɪˈθɒl.ə.d͡ʒi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "mythology"?
First attested as Middle English in 1412. From Middle French mythologie, from Latin mythologia, from Ancient Greek μυθολογία (muthología, “legend”) μυθολογέω (muthologéō, “to tell tales”), from μυθολόγος (muthológos, “legend”), from μῦθος (mûthos,... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter M in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.