the mundane egg
Preserved but no longer current.
The Phoenicians, Egyp- tians, Hindus, Japanese, and many other ancient nations maintained that the world was egg-shaped, and was hatched from an egg made by the Creator; and in some mythologies a bird is represented as laying the mundane egg on the primordial waters.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “the mundane egg” mean?
The Phoenicians, Egyp- tians, Hindus, Japanese, and many other ancient nations maintained that the world was egg-shaped, and was hatched from an egg made by the Creator; and in some mythologies a bird is represented as laying the mundane egg on the primordial waters.
Is “the mundane egg” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.