mythological

Etymology

Etymonline, Merriam-Webster and Klein take it as borrowed from Late Latin mythologicus with the suffix -al,^[2][3][4][5] from Ancient Greek μυθολογικός (muthologikós, “pertaining to legendary lore”),^[2][3][4] from μυθολογία (muthología, “legend, story-telling”).^[3][4] The OED takes it either from French mythologique with -al, or as formed within English from mythology and -ical.^[6] The French adjective is recorded from 1480, and post-classical Latin mythologicus from a variant title of the “Mythologiae” of Fulgentius; the Greek word meant poetical or inventive in Plato.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to mythology or myths: 1614, in Walter Raleigh's History of the World.^[6][3] Etymonline dates it to the 1610s.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From 1658 the word was also used of a writer who made or dealt with myths,^[6] and since 1807 of something found or celebrated only in myth, and so imaginary.^[6][7] Johnson (1755) defined it as relating to the explanation of fabulous history.^[8] The shorter mythologic is a less common variant.^[3][9]

Timeline

• 1614 – relating to mythology or myths.^[6][3]
• 1658 – of a writer, myth-making.^[6]
• 1807 – existing only in myth; imaginary.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to mythology or myths: a mythological scene painted on the ceiling.^[9][3][6]
2. Found only in myth; mythical, imaginary: a mythological beast.^[9][3][6]

Word family

• mythologically
• nonmythological
• unmythological

Related words

• myth
• mythology
• mythic
• mythical

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins