1. a person who practices euhemerism; one who explains myths and legends as distorted accounts of real historical events and people.
Usage: scholarly or academic term; often used in mythology and religious studies

Examples

• The euhemerist argued that the god Zeus was originally a powerful ancient king whose deeds were exaggerated over time.
• As an euhemerist, she believed that many Greek myths contained kernels of historical truth.
• The euhemerist approach suggests that legendary heroes like Hercules may have been based on real warriors.
• Some scholars dismiss the euhemerist interpretation as overly reductive.
• The euhemerist theory attempts to find historical explanations for supernatural elements in ancient stories.