PHENOMENON

phenomenon

(noun) any state or process known through the senses rather than by intuition or reasoning

phenomenon

(noun) a remarkable development

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

phenomenon (plural phenomena or phenomenons or phenomenon)

A thing or being, event or process, perceptible through senses; or a fact or occurrence thereof.

(by extension) A knowable thing or event (eg by inference, especially in science)

A kind or type of phenomenon (sense 1 or 2)

Appearance; a perceptible aspect of something that is mutable.

A fact or event considered very unusual, curious, or astonishing by those who witness it.

A wonderful or very remarkable person or thing.

(philosophy, chiefly, Kantian idealism) An experienced object whose constitution reflects the order and conceptual structure imposed upon it by the human mind (especially by the powers of perception and understanding).

Usage notes

• The universal, common, modern spelling of this term is phenomenon. Of the alternative forms listed above, phaenomenon, phænomenon, and phainomenon are etymologically consistent, retaining the diphthong from its Ancient Greek etymon φαινόμενον; in the case of the first two, it is in the Romanised form of the Latin ae diphthong, whereas in the latter it is a direct transcription of the original Ancient Greek. The form spelt with œ has no etymological basis. All those alternative forms are pronounced identically with phenomenon and are archaic, except for phainomenon, which sees some technical use in academia and is pronounced with an initial fī ([faɪ],).

• By far the most common and universally accepted plural form is the classical phenomena; the Anglicised phenomenons is also sometimes used. The plural form phenomena is frequently used in the singular, and the singular form is sometimes used in the plural. Arising from this nonstandard use, the double plurals phenomenas and phenomenae, as well as a form employing the greengrocer’s apostrophe — phenomena’s — are also seen.

Synonyms

• (observable fact or occurrence): event

• (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event): marvel, miracle, oddity, wonder, legend

• (wonderful person or thing): marvel, miracle, phenom, prodigy, wonder, legend

Antonyms

• (philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind): noumenon, thing-in-itself

Source: Wiktionary

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Phe*nom"e*non, n.; pl. Phenomena. Etym: [L. phaenomenon, Gr. faino`menon, fr. fai`nesqai to appear, fai`nein to show. See Phantom.]

1. An appearance; anything visible; whatever, in matter or spirit, is apparent to, or is apprehended by, observation; as, the phenomena of heat, light, or electricity; phenomena of imagination or memory. In the phenomena of the material world, and in many of the phenomena of mind. Stewart.

2. That which strikes one as strange, unusual, or unaccountable; an extraordinary or very remarkable person, thing, or occurrence; as, a musical phenomenon.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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