mytheme

M3Y4T1H4E1M3E1
/mɪθiːm/

noun

The essential kernel of a myth; a myth or mythic element that get passed along.

Scrabble 17
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Meanings

nounmytheme (plural mythemes)

plural mythemes

  1. The essential kernel of a myth; a myth or mythic element that get passed along.

    By the time the Cypria was composed, Greek poets were certainly familiar with the mytheme of a flood as a divine punishment.

    2025 December 12, Tom Hercules Davies, “Horses, Wheels, Languages: Greek, Mesopotamian and Indic Epic on the Eurasian Steppe”, in The Classical Quarterly, volume 75, number 1, page 17

Origin

From myth + -eme, popularized by Claude Lévi-Strauss.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French mythème
  • mythèmekernel of a myth
Cite this entry
APA

mytheme. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mytheme

MLA

“mytheme.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mytheme. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mytheme,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mytheme.

Source: mytheme on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.