euhemerizeとは 意味・読み方・使い方

別の表記

• euhemerise (UK)

語源

From euhemerism +‎ -ize, ultimately from Latin Euhēmerus, from Ancient Greek Εὐήμερος (Euḗmeros), an ancient Greek Sicilian Skeptic who proposed most or all mythology derived from historical figures and natural events which received supernatural characteristics only through retelling.

発音

• (General American) IPA: /juˈhiməˌɹaɪz/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /juːˈhiːməˌɹaɪz/

動詞

euhemerize (third-person singular simple present euhemerizes, present participle euhemerizing, simple past and past participle euhemerized)

1. (ambitransitive, derogatory) To invent a plausible but fanciful historical origin for something in order to rationalize mythology and legends.

   Near-synonyms: demythologize (sometimes synonymous), undeify (synonymous when personages are the direct objects)

   Confucian scholars frequently euhemerized the myths used to explain religious rituals to the public.

   • 1871, Frederic William Farrar, The Witness of History to Christ, page 57:

     He did but extend to the New Testament the Euhemerising principles which Eichhorn had applied to the Old.

   • 1887 September 3, I. Taylor, The Academy, page 143:

     The legend of Semiramis was a euhemerised version of the story of Istar.

2. (ambitransitive) To create mythology and legends from ancient historical figures and events.

   Synonym: mythologize

   Near-synonym: deify (synonymous when personages are the direct objects)

   The Yellow Emperor was perhaps euhemerized from a prehistoric tribal leader.

使用する際の注意点

In general, the nonpejorative sense of euhemerize is restricted to discussion of Chinese mythology, where it is applied to the religious veneration of figures from remote prehistory and used to distinguish this from the deification of known historical figures such as Guan Yu and Huang Daopo. As an intransitive verb, typically used with into and out of.

同意語

• (fanciful creation of rational explanations for the supernatural): See rationalize

派生語

• euhemerization

関連する語

参照

• “Euhemerism, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.
• "euhemerism" in Prof. D.K. Jordan's "Mini-Glossaries" (27 Jan. 2011)