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
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).
• 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 Ĺ“ 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 fÄ« ([faÉŞ],).
• 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.
• (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
• (philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind): noumenon, thing-in-itself
Source: Wiktionary
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
16 November 2024
(verb) go and leave behind, either intentionally or by neglect or forgetfulness; “She left a mess when she moved out”; “His good luck finally left him”; “her husband left her after 20 years of marriage”; “she wept thinking she had been left behind”
The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch “koffie,” borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish “kahve,” borrowed in turn from the Arabic “qahwah.” The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine.
