phenomenon

English Online Dictionary. What means phenomenon‎? What does phenomenon mean?

English

Alternative forms

• phaenomenon, phænomenon (archaic)
• phainomenon (archaic, academic or technical)
• phœnomenon (hypercorrect, obsolete)

Etymology

From Late Latin phaenomenon (“appearance”), from Ancient Greek φαινόμενον (phainómenon, “thing appearing to view”), neuter present middle participle of φαίνω (phaínō, “I show”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /fəˈnɒm.ɪ.nən/, /fɪ-/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /fəˈnɑ.məˌnɑn/, /-nən/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /fəˈnɔm.ə.nɔn/, /-nən/
• Hyphenation: phe‧no‧me‧non

Noun

phenomenon (plural phenomena or (nonstandard) phenomenons or phenomenon)

1. A thing or being, event or process, perceptible through senses; or a fact or occurrence thereof.
2. (by extension) A knowable thing or event (eg by inference, especially in science)

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

4. Appearance; a perceptible aspect of something that is mutable.
5. A fact or event considered very unusual, curious, or astonishing by those who witness it.
6. A wonderful or very remarkable person or thing.
7. (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 αι diphthong from its Ancient Greek etymon φαινόμενον (phainómenon); 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 transliteration 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

• (antonym(s) of “philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind”): noumenon, thing-in-itself

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• “phenomenon”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “phenomenon”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.