pantheon means the circular Roman temple dedicated to all the gods in 27 BCE in Rome, rebuilt c. 125 CE and later consecrated as a church.
pantheon is pronounced /ˈpænθiən/.
Why “pantheon” is a great word
The collective gods of a particular religion or mythology, or a temple dedicated to all the gods; by extension, the most revered or eminent individuals in any field. From Latin Pantheon, from Ancient Greek Πάνθειον (Pántheion, "temple of all gods"), from παν- (pan-, "all") + θεῖος (theîos, "of or for the gods"), from θεός (theós, "god"). Unlike a solitary "deity" or the ranked "hierarchy" of an institution, a pantheon gathers multiplicity into sacred congress. It is the marble circle of Olympus where thunder and wisdom drink together, the crowded ceiling of the Sistine Chapel where prophets and sibyls lean in painted conversation, or the slow accretion of names—Miles, Coltrane, Billie—that musicians invoke with the same breath. A testament to our need to name and house the infinite, it is the dome under which the great, by their coexistence, create a shared and lasting echo.
Etymology
From Latin Pantheon, from Ancient Greek Πάνθειον (Pántheion, “a temple of all gods”), neuter of πάνθειος (pántheios, “of or common to all gods”), from παν- (pan-, “all, everything”) + θεῖος (theîos, “of or for the gods”), from θεός (theós, “god”).
name
- The circular Roman temple dedicated to all the gods in 27 BCE in Rome, rebuilt c. 125 CE and later consecrated as a church.
noun
- A temple dedicated to all the gods.
- All the gods of a particular people or religion, particularly the ancient Greek gods residing on Olympus, considered as a group.“Every act of a Roman, from birth to death, from dawn to night, was controlled and supervised by some presiding deity. Man was thus virtually a symbolic puppet in the hands of the Roman pantheon.”
- A category or classification denoting the most honored persons of a group.“Usain Bolt seals his place in the pantheon with stunning fifth gold”
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