mythonomy

Etymology

From mytho- + -nomy.

mythonomy means the study of myths in general and how they develop, as contrasted with mythology, the study of specific existing myths. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 75 out of 100.

Why this word is great

MYTHONOMY — [Noun] The systematic study of the underlying laws and developmental principles governing myths as a general phenomenon. Formed within English by compounding the combining forms mytho- (from Greek 'mythos', meaning "myth, story") and -nomy (from Greek '-nomia', from 'nomos', meaning "law, system of rules"). Unlike "mythology" (which denotes a specific corpus of tales) or "mythography" (which is their descriptive cataloguing), mythonomy seeks the cold grammar beneath the sacred heat. It is the cartography of a continent that never was, tracing the migratory path of the flood narrative from Sumer to Genesis, mapping the fractal recurrence of the dying god in the wheat field, and isolating the core motif—the stolen fire, the sun swallowed—beneath a thousand local variations. It is the quiet work of finding the skeleton of meaning within the flesh of the tale, a discipline that maps the deep structures of dreams we all pretend to have forgotten.

noun

The study of myths in general and how they develop, as contrasted with mythology, the study of specific existing myths.