Pronounced: kwaz, noun
Notes: I don’t think I’ve every run across this word
Yesterday’s word
The word pantheon means
- a temple dedicated to all the gods; the gods of a people
- a group of illustrious persons
First usage
Our word came into English in the late 1300s (but see the comments below)
Background / Comments
When our word first came into English, it referred to the famous Pantheon in Rome. Later on, the word was used to refer to any collection of gods. In the 1800s, our word began to be used for groups of important persons. The Romans borrowed Pantheon from the Greek word pantheion (a temple honoring all their gods), which is composed of pan- (all) and theos (god).
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 