Dictionary

epiphany en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (General-American) audio
• /ɛˈpɪfəni/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• /ɪˈpɪfni/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• (Australia) audio
• /ɪˈpɪfəni/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English epiphanie, from Old French epyphanie, from Late Latin epiphania, from Ancient Greek ἐπιφάνεια (epipháneia, “manifestation, striking appearance”), from ἐπιφαίνω (epiphaínō, “I appear, display”), from ἐπι- (epi-, “upon”) + φαίνω (phaínō, “I shine, appear”). English Epiphany (of Christ) since the 14th century, generic use since the 17th century.

Meanings

1. (countable) An illuminating realization or discovery, often resulting in a personal feeling of elation, awe, or wonder.
   • Instead of examining institutions and classes, structures of economic production and social control, one had to think about “moments”—moments of love, hate, poetry, frustration, action, surrender, delight, humiliation, justice, cruelty, resignation, surprise, disgust, resentment, self-loathing, pity, fury, peace of mind—those tiny epiphanies, Lefebvre said, in which the absolute possibilities and temporal limits of anyone's existence were revealed. 1989, Greil Marcus, Lipstick Traces, Faber & Faber, published 2009:
   • It came to her in an epiphany what her life's work was to be.
   • Between the gaps, I was swimming laps / Got close to some epiphany / I'll convince a friend to join deep ends / Have your toes touch the lack of cement 2021, “Amoeba”, performed by Clairo:
   • The logic of the standard biography—a formative event leads to an epiphany that creates the great man—doesn’t quite work when the greatness doesn’t have much to do with the man at all. 2023 May 9, Jay Caspian Kang, “Tony Hsieh and the Emptiness of the Tech-Mogul Myth”, in The New Yorker:
   • But after spending most of my pocket money to get those developed, I had an epiphany: I was never going to be a professional photographer. My pictures were god-awful. I put the camera away. 2013, Chris Hadfield, chapter 11, in An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN:
2. (countable) A manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being.
   • The ithyphallic bird-man is the climactic, ecstatic, instantaneous male principle confronting the enormous, slow, bovine, and enduring principle of the eternal feminine in her epiphany as the bison. 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 129:
3. (alt-of, countable, uncountable) Alternative letter-case form of Epiphany.
   alt of Epiphany

Forms

Deriveds

sleepiphany · epiphanette · epiphanic · epiphanal · epiphanylike · epiphany cake · epiphanous

Relateds

Advent · Christmas · eureka · Twelve Days of Christmas · Epiphany (Christian celebration)

Synonyms

enlightenment · theophany · satori · nirvana · aha moment · eureka moment

Translations (78)

uk прозріння (illuminating realization or discovery) · pl objawienie (illuminating realization or discovery) · ru явле́ние (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · de Offenbarung (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · mk богојавление (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · it apparizione (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · da åbenbaring (illuminating realization or discovery) · fr apparition (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · pl objawienie (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · nl verschijning (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · gl epifanía (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · ro epifanie (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · es epifanía (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · it ierofania (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · pt epifania (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · nl ingeving (illuminating realization or discovery) · da åbenbaring (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · de Erleuchtung (illuminating realization or discovery) · ru озаре́ние (illuminating realization or discovery) · de Erscheinung (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · nb åpenbaring (illuminating realization or discovery) · es manifestación (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · is guðdómsbirting (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · it befana (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · sh bogojávljēnje (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · ja エピファニー (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · cmn 領悟 /领悟 (illuminating realization or discovery) · bg прозрение (illuminating realization or discovery) · mk прогледување (illuminating realization or discovery) · fr révélation (illuminating realization or discovery) · el θεοφάνεια (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · sh epifànija (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · ar تَجَلٍّ (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · de Heureka-Moment (illuminating realization or discovery) · ja 洞察 (illuminating realization or discovery) · hu felismerés (illuminating realization or discovery) · nb åpenbaring (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · ro epifanie (illuminating realization or discovery) · el επιφάνεια (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · fi oivallus (illuminating realization or discovery) · bg проглеждане (illuminating realization or discovery) · de Epiphanie (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · hu megjelenés (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · pt epifania (illuminating realization or discovery) · it Epifania (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · ru богоявле́ние (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · eo epifanio (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · it epifania (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · ota تجلی (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · fr illumination (illuminating realization or discovery) · pl epifania (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · bg богоявле́ние (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · fr déclic (illuminating realization or discovery) · fi ilmestys (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · vec Pefanìa (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · cmn 頓悟 /顿悟 (illuminating realization or discovery) · pt manifestação (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · de Aha-Erlebnis (illuminating realization or discovery) · hu reveláció (illuminating realization or discovery) · vec Pifanìa (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · cmn 洞察 (illuminating realization or discovery) · hu megtestesülés (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · ru прозре́ние (illuminating realization or discovery) · fi valaistus (illuminating realization or discovery) · hu epifánia (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · hu megvilágosodás (illuminating realization or discovery) · nl epifanie (illuminating realization or discovery) · pl epifania (illuminating realization or discovery) · it rivelazione (illuminating realization or discovery) · he הֶאָרָה (illuminating realization or discovery) · sh epifànija (illuminating realization or discovery) · cs zjevení (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · pl olśnienie (illuminating realization or discovery) · cmn 顯示 /显示 (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · de Manifestation (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · nl openbaring (manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being) · ar تَجَلٍّ (illuminating realization or discovery) · fi ahaa-elämys (illuminating realization or discovery)