Dictionary

phenomenon en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /fəˈnɒm.ɪ.nən/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• [fəˈnɔ̟m.ə.nɔ̟n] (New-Zealand)
• /fəˈnɔm.ə.nɔn/ (Australia)
• (London) audio
• /fɪ-/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /-nən/ (Australia)
• audio Gloucestershire
• /-nən/ (Canada, General-American)
• [-nən] (New-Zealand)
• /fəˈnɑ.məˌnɑn/ (Canada, General-American)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂nyéti Proto-Hellenic *pʰáňňō Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō) Ancient Greek φαινόμενον (phainómenon)bor. Late Latin phaenomenonder. English phenomenon From Late Latin phaenomenon (“appearance”), from Ancient Greek φαινόμενον (phainómenon, “thing appearing to view”), neuter present middle participle of φαίνω (phaínō, “I show”).

Meanings

1. A thing or being, event or process, perceptible through senses; or a fact or occurrence thereof.
   • In the sense in which we are using the term, the intellectuals are in fact a fairly new phenomenon of history. 1949, F. A. Hayek, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, in University of Chicago Law Review, volume 16, number 3, Chicago: University of Chicago, →DOI, page 420:
   • The year 1866 was signalised by a remarkable incident, a mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon, which doubtless no one has yet forgotten. 1873, Jules Verne, chapter I, in [anonymous], transl., Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas; […], James R. Osgood edition, Boston, Mass.: Geo[rge] M[urray] Smith & Co., →OCLC, part I, page 3:
   • The Indians, making a hasty inference from a trivial phenomenon, arrived unawares at a probably correct conclusion. 1900, Andrew Lang, chapter 1, in The Making of Religion:
   • It is important to note the differences between hurricanes and earthquakes — hurricanes are a meteorological phenomenon while earthquakes are geological. Both hurricanes and earthquakes can produce damage by flooding of coastal areas, but a hurricane's storm surge and a tsunami associated with an earthquake are entirely different phenomena. 2007 November 7, “Ask the Experts: Hurricanes”, in USA Today, archived from the original on 04 Feb 2012, retrieved 16 Jan 2009:
2. (broadly) A knowable thing or event (e.g. by inference, especially in science).
   • An electromagnetic phenomenon.
3. A kind or type of phenomenon (sense 1 or 2).
   • A volcanic eruption is an impressive phenomenon.
4. Appearance; a perceptible aspect of something that is mutable.
   • I verily believe that in the Moon there are no rains, for if Clouds should gather in any part thereof, as they do about the Earth, they would thereupon hide from our sight some of those things, which we with the Telescope behold in the Moon, and in a word, would some way or other change its Phœnomenon. 1662, Thomas Salusbury, transl., Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems of the World, First Day:
5. A fact or event considered very unusual, curious, or astonishing by those who witness it.
   • Not much later—perhaps only two or three weeks later he has discovered meaning in them; he knows that they say "The cat sat on the hat." How this happens no one really knows, despite the efforts of philosophers and psychologists over two and a half millennia to study the phenomenon. [...] Indeed, this discovery of meaning in symbols may be the most astounding intellectual feat that any human being ever performs—and most humans perform it before they are seven years old! 1972, Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren, How to Read a Book, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 25:
   • The phenomenon of a huge blazing fire, upon the opposite bank of the glen, again presented itself to the eye of the watchman. . . . He resolved to examine more nearly the object of his wonder. 1816, [Walter Scott], chapter XVIII, in The Antiquary. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:
6. A wonderful or very remarkable person or thing.
   • But, all the same, you're a phenomenon, and as queer a phenomenon as you are a blackguard. 1888, Rudyard Kipling, The Phantom Rickshaw:
   • "This, sir," said Mr Vincent Crummles, bringing the maiden forward, "this is the infant phenomenon—Miss Ninetta Crummles." 1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, chapter 23, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, →OCLC:
7. (qualifier: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).
   • Every "phenomenon" must be, at any rate, partly subjective or dependent on the subject. 1900, S. Tolver Preston, “Comparison of Some Views of Spencer and Kant”, in Mind, volume 9, number 34, page 234:
   • The Kantian phenomenon is the real as we are compelled to think it. 1912, Roy Wood Sellars, “Is There a Cognitive Relation?”, in The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods, volume 9, number 9, page 232:

Forms

Antonyms

thing-in-itself · noumenon (antonym(s) of)

Deriveds

Runge's phenomenon · phenomenography · subphenomenon · phenomenal · Kamalanomenon · Kohnstamm's phenomenon · QWERTY phenomenon · epiphenomenon · phenomenical · Ferranti phenomenon · Will Rogers phenomenon · Koebner phenomenon · Raynaud's phenomenon · impostor phenomenon · rebound phenomenon · superphenomenon · phenom · Baader-Meinhof phenomenon · phi phenomenon · protophenomenon · fis phenomenon · macrophenomenon · nutcracker phenomenon · Gibbs phenomenon · phenomenalism · nanophenomenon · small-world phenomenon · phenomenic · unidentified aerial phenomenon · rocking horse phenomenon · symphenomenon · Mariko Aoki phenomenon · Jod-Basedow phenomenon · unexplained aerial phenomenon · echophenomenon · Holmes rebound phenomenon · microphenomenon · Uhthoff's phenomenon · coprophenomenon · phenomenology · doorknob phenomenon · windscreen phenomenon · phenomenalistic · metaphenomenon · phenomenally · Stein's phenomenon · windshield phenomenon · Marcus Gunn phenomenon · Bezold-Brücke phenomenon

Relateds

pheno- · phene · phenotype · -phane

Synonyms

miracle (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · legend (wonderful person or thing) · legend (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · event (observable fact or occurrence) · oddity (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · prodigy (wonderful person or thing) · miracle (wonderful person or thing) · marvel (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · marvel (wonderful person or thing) · wonder (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · wonder (wonderful person or thing) · phenom (wonderful person or thing)

Translations (154)

ja 現象 (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · th ปรากฏการณ์ (knowable thing or event) · pt fenómeno (philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind) · hu jelenség (observable fact or occurrence) · mk појава (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · hu tünet (observable fact or occurrence) · hy ֆենոմեն (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · mk феномен (observable fact or occurrence) · sh по̏јава (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · ja 現象 (observable fact or occurrence) · be з'я́ва (observable fact or occurrence) · ka ფენომენი (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · pt fenômeno (observable fact or occurrence) · sv fenomen (observable fact or occurrence) · hi परिघटना (observable fact or occurrence) · hu tünemény (observable fact or occurrence) · eo fenomeno (observable fact or occurrence) · vi hiện tượng (philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind) · da foreteelse (observable fact or occurrence) · be з'яўле́нне (observable fact or occurrence) · be фено́мен (observable fact or occurrence) · oc fenomèn (observable fact or occurrence) · es fenómeno (observable fact or occurrence) · cs fenomén (observable fact or occurrence) · sq ngjarje (knowable thing or event) · ca fenomen (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · pt fenômeno (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · kk құбылыс (observable fact or occurrence) · hu jelenség (philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind) · fi ilmiö (philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind) · mk феномен (philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind) · ar ظَاهِرَة (observable fact or occurrence) · hi परिघटना (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · nb fenomen (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · cs úkaz (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · ka მოვლენა (observable fact or occurrence) · ka ფენომენი (observable fact or occurrence) · lv fenomens (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · ru явле́ние (observable fact or occurrence) · id fenomena (observable fact or occurrence) · he תופעה (observable fact or occurrence) · ba ғәжәп хәл/күренеш (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · lv parādība (observable fact or occurrence) · gl fenómeno (wonderful or very remarkable person or thing) · cs fenomén (philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind) · nl fenomeen (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · de Phänomen (observable fact or occurrence) · hy երևույթ (observable fact or occurrence) · km ឧប្បាទធម៌ (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · uk я́влення (observable fact or occurrence) · km បាតុភូត (observable fact or occurrence) · sq dukuri (observable fact or occurrence) · sh pȍjava (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · tl penomeno (observable fact or occurrence) · ba күренеш (perceptible aspect of something that is mutable) · gl fenómeno (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · mi tītohunga (knowable thing or event) · ca fenomen (observable fact or occurrence) · mk феномен (wonderful or very remarkable person or thing) · fr phénomène (observable fact or occurrence) · mk феномен (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · sh по̏јава (philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind) · da fænomen (observable fact or occurrence) · th ปรากฏการณ์ (observable fact or occurrence) · vi người phi thường (wonderful or very remarkable person or thing) · pt fenómeno (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · fa پدیده (observable fact or occurrence) · uk фено́мен (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · ba күренеш (knowable thing or event) · es fenómeno (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · cs jev (observable fact or occurrence) · sh pȍjava (observable fact or occurrence) · de Phänomen (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · bg феномен (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · uk фено́мен (observable fact or occurrence) · ja 現象 (philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind) · vi người kỳ lạ (wonderful or very remarkable person or thing) · sh pȍjava (philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind) · ro fenomen (philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind) · ba күренеш (observable fact or occurrence) · ca fenomen (philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind) · fi ilmiasu (perceptible aspect of something that is mutable) · fo fyribrigdi (observable fact or occurrence) · mk појава (observable fact or occurrence) · ru необыкнове́нное явле́ние (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · ko 현상 (observable fact or occurrence) · vi vật kỳ lạ (wonderful or very remarkable person or thing) · ht fenomèn (observable fact or occurrence) · fi ilmiö (wonderful or very remarkable person or thing) · pt fenómeno (observable fact or occurrence) · ro fenomen (observable fact or occurrence) · ka შემთხვევა (observable fact or occurrence) · fi ilmiö (kind or type of phenomenon) · pl zjawisko (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · it fenomeno (observable fact or occurrence) · gl fenómeno (philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind) · sv företeelse (observable fact or occurrence) · th ปรากฏการณ์ (kind or type of phenomenon) · cs úkaz (observable fact or occurrence) · fi ilmiö (knowable thing or event) · nn fenomen (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · el φαινόμενο (observable fact or occurrence) · bcl ngangalasan (observable fact or occurrence) · nl verschijnsel (observable fact or occurrence) · bg явление (observable fact or occurrence) · vi hiện tượng (observable fact or occurrence) · oc fenomen (observable fact or occurrence) · ru фено́мен (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · fi ilmiö (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · vi hiện tượng (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · hi दृग्विषय (observable fact or occurrence) · fr phénomène (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · izh javlenja (observable fact or occurrence) · ru феноме́н (observable fact or occurrence) · pt fenômeno (philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind) · fi ilmiö (observable fact or occurrence) · ru феноме́н (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · be фено́мен (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · tl kababalaghan (observable fact or occurrence) · de Erscheinung (observable fact or occurrence) · km បាតុភូត (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · sv fenomen (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · ru фено́мен (observable fact or occurrence) · uk з'я́влення (observable fact or occurrence) · cmn 現象 /现象 (observable fact or occurrence) · hu fenomén (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · el φαινόμενο (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · pl fenomen (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · pl fenomen (observable fact or occurrence) · sh по̏јава (observable fact or occurrence) · pl fenomen (wonderful or very remarkable person or thing) · nl fenomeen (observable fact or occurrence) · pl zjawisko (observable fact or occurrence) · ast fenómenu (observable fact or occurrence) · ba күренеш (kind or type of phenomenon) · pt fenômeno (wonderful or very remarkable person or thing) · vi vật phi thường (wonderful or very remarkable person or thing) · ms fenomena (observable fact or occurrence) · gl fenómeno (observable fact or occurrence) · tr fenomen (observable fact or occurrence) · ru собы́тие (observable fact or occurrence) · ro fenomen (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · fa فنومن (observable fact or occurrence) · gv ard-yindys (unusual, curious, or astonishing fact or event) · mi tītohunga (observable fact or occurrence) · ru эффе́кт (observable fact or occurrence) · vi sự việc phi thường (wonderful or very remarkable person or thing) · pl fenomen (knowable thing or event) · nn fenomen (observable fact or occurrence) · mk појава (philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind) · es fenómeno (philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind) · nb fenomen (observable fact or occurrence) · pt fenómeno (wonderful or very remarkable person or thing) · el φαινόμενο (philosophy: experienced object structured by the mind)