Pantheon

¹ American  

[pan-thee-on, -uhn, pan-thee-uhn] / ˈpæn θiˌɒn, -ən, pænˈθi ən /

noun

1. a domed circular temple at Rome, erected a.d. 120–124 by Hadrian, used as a church since a.d.

2. (lowercase) a public building containing tombs or memorials of the illustrious dead of a nation.

3. (lowercase) the place of the heroes or idols of any group, individual, movement, party, etc., or the heroes or idols themselves.

   to earn a place in the pantheon of American literature.

4. (lowercase) a temple dedicated to all the gods.

5. (lowercase) the gods of a particular mythology considered collectively.

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Panthéon ² American  

[pahn-tey-awn] / pɑ̃ teɪˈɔ̃ /

noun

1. a national monument in Paris, France, used as a sepulcher for eminent French persons, begun in 1764 by Soufflot as the church of Ste. Geneviève and secularized in 1885.

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pantheon ¹ British  

/ pænˈθiːən, ˈpænθɪən /

noun

1. (esp in ancient Greece or Rome) a temple to all the gods

2. all the gods collectively of a religion

3. a monument or building commemorating a nation's dead heroes

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Pantheon ² British  

/ pænˈθiːən, ˈpænθɪən /

noun

1. a circular temple in Rome dedicated to all the gods, built by Agrippa in 27 _bc , rebuilt by Hadrian 120–24 _ad , and used since 609 _ad as a Christian church

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Other Word Forms

• pantheonic adjective

Etymology

Origin of Pantheon

1375–1425; late Middle English panteon < Latin Panthēon < Greek Pántheion, noun use of neuter of pántheios of all gods, equivalent to pan- pan- + the ( ós ) god + -ios adj. suffix

Explanation

In the pantheon of great movie stars, Marilyn Monroe might well be considered the brightest of them all. The actual Pantheon was a temple built by the Romans — but we use it to mean any group of exalted figures. To place someone in a pantheon is to decide that they belong to a "club" whose members are all only the greatest people to have done the same thing. It's like a little temple of little gods. Tiger Woods, for example, definitely belongs in the pantheon of great golfers –– alongside Palmer, Nicklaus and Singh. If you want to see the real Pantheon, that is the building itself with the world's oldest concrete dome, then you'll have to go to Rome.

Example Sentences

Strip out the weather rebound and the auto recovery, and the underlying trend in consumer spending probably remains weak, analysts at Pantheon Macroeconomics wrote.

From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026

Giovanni Colli, 71, rolling his eyes while sipping an espresso at a café near the Pantheon, says he feels "betrayed."

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026

“This is very unwelcome for European industry, to put it mildly,” said Claus Vistesen, chief eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026

“It’s too soon to pop the champagne and conclude that China is shaking off its post-Covid torpor,” said economists at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026

It would keep swinging, she understood, after she and her father left the Pantheon, after she had fallen asleep that night.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Related Words

• chapel
• church
• house
• mosque
• pagoda
• place of worship
• sanctuary
• shrine
• synagogue