Polytheism

n. belief in more than one god, paganism

Polytheism is belief in or worship of multiple deities. The word comes from the Greek words poly theoi, literally "many gods." Ancient Greek and Roman religions were polytheistic, holding to a pantheon of traditional deities. Polytheism is in most cases the origin of later monotheism, where one of the divinities becomes the only worshipped one.
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Noun
1. belief in multiple Gods
(antonym) monotheism
(hypernym) theism
(hyponym) tritheism

(n.)
The doctrine of, or belief in, a plurality of gods.
  

Polytheism The doctrine of and belief in a plurality of gods, cosmic spirits, or celestial entities under whatever name they may be described. The word came into use as a correlative of monotheism -- the doctrine as of the Jews, Christians, and Moslems, of one and only one God. The unphilosophical nature of monotheism, which in the Occident is quite different from the significance of divine unity, is shown by the subterfuges resorted to in order to supply its deficiencies. As divinity cannot be successfully imagined as individually concerned with every operation in the universe, the general term nature is used to denote a kind of secondary god; while the progress of science has analyzed this into various laws and forces, which paradoxically enough perform somewhat the same functions as the gods of polytheism, except in their wrongly supposed lack of intelligence. Less sophisticated and more profound intellects have never ceased to believe in a whole range of cosmic hierarchies, running from divinity down to the so-called nature spirits, and traditional peoples have always looked upon these as powers which are often dreaded and can be propitiated. Even Christianity has its saints, and its theology speaks of Angels and Archangels, of Dominions and Thrones, etc. As soon as we depart from the simple primeval idea of a universe filled with intelligent beings -- and indeed formed of these beings themselves -- of numerous hierarchies, grades, and kinds, we land in a maze of abstractions and contradictions.
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