What does phenomenon mean?

Definitions for phenomenon
fɪˈnɒm əˌnɒn, -nənphe·nom·e·non

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word phenomenon.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. phenomenonnoun

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

  2. phenomenonnoun

    a remarkable development

Wiktionary

  1. phenomenonnoun

    An observable fact or occurrence or a kind of observable fact or occurrence.

  2. phenomenonnoun

    Appearance; a perceptible aspect of something that is mutable.

  3. phenomenonnoun

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

  4. phenomenonnoun

    A wonderful or very remarkable person or thing.

  5. phenomenonnoun

    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).

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Phenomenonnoun

    Etymology: φαίνομενον; phenomene, Fr.

    Short-sighted minds are unfit to make philosophers, whose business it is to describe in comprehensive theories, the phenomena of the world and their causes. Burnet.

    The most considerable phenomenon, belonging to terrestrial bodies, is gravitation, whereby all bodies in the vicinity of the earth press towards its centre. Richard Bentley, Sermons.

Wikipedia

  1. Phenomenon

    A phenomenon (Greek: φαινόμενον, romanized: phainómenon, lit. 'thing appearing to view'; plural phenomena) is an observable fact or event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which cannot be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in this part of his philosophy, in which phenomenon and noumenon serve as interrelated technical terms. Far predating this, the ancient Greek Pyrrhonist philosopher Sextus Empiricus also used phenomenon and noumenon as interrelated technical terms.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Phenomenonnoun

    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

  2. Phenomenonnoun

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

  3. Etymology: [L. phaenomenon, Gr. faino`menon, fr. fai`nesqai to appear, fai`nein to show. See Phantom.]

Freebase

  1. Phenomenon

    A phenomenon, plural phenomena, is any observable occurrence. Phenomena are often, but not always, understood as 'appearances' or 'experiences'. These are themselves sometimes understood as involving qualia. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon. In contrast to a phenomenon, a noumenon is not directly accessible to observation. Kant was heavily influenced by Leibniz in this part of his philosophy, in which phenomenon and noumenon serve as interrelated technical terms.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Phenomenon

    fē-nom′e-non, n. an appearance: the appearance which anything makes to our consciousness, as distinguished from what it is in itself: an observed result: a remarkable or unusual person, thing, or appearance:—pl. Phenom′ena.—adj. Phenom′enal, pertaining to a phenomenon: of the nature of a phenomenon: so strange as to excite great wonder: out of the common.—v.t. Phenom′enalise, to represent as a phenomenon.—ns. Phenom′enalism, the philosophical doctrine that the phenomenal and the real are identical—that phenomena are the only realities—also Externalism; Phenom′enalist, one who believes in phenomenalism; Phenomenal′ity, the character of being phenomenal.—adv. Phenom′enally.—v.t. Phenom′enise, to bring into the world of experience.—ns. Phenom′enism, the doctrines of the phenomenists; Phenom′enist, one who believes only what he observes, or phenomena, one who rejects necessary primary principles.—adj. Phenomenōlog′ical.—n. Phenomenol′ogy, a description of phenomena. [Gr. phainomenonphainein, to show.]

Editors Contribution

  1. phenomenon

    A natural fact or event.

    Astronomy is considered to have many phenomenon due to the nature of stars, the universe etc.


    Submitted by MaryC on February 11, 2020  

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'phenomenon' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #4083

  2. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'phenomenon' in Nouns Frequency: #1228

How to pronounce phenomenon?

How to say phenomenon in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of phenomenon in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of phenomenon in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of phenomenon in a Sentence

  1. Lina Khatib:

    Even ISIS is not immune from the warlord phenomenon that takes place in the context of civil war and is being witnessed in Syria today.

  2. Mark Halperin:

    Donald trump’s mouth is more of a 24/7 phenomenon, in the last 24 hours he’s said seven things that make for pretty interesting stories.

  3. Kim Forrest:

    This a phenomenon you see in the late stages of an expansion, hiring is up and to support all the new people that you've hired, you to add to your technology.

  4. Norbert Schartel:

    Finding one source is great, but knowing that this phenomenon is common in the Universe would be a real breakthrough, even with XMM-Newton, we might be able to find more such sources in the next decade.

  5. President Putin:

    What is happening in the West ? what is the reason for the Trump phenomenon, as you said, in the US ? What is happening in Europe as well ? The ruling elites have broken away from the people. The obvious problem is the gap between the interests of the elites and the overwhelming majority of the people.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

phenomenon#1#8866#10000

Translations for phenomenon

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

Get even more translations for phenomenon »

Translation

Find a translation for the phenomenon definition in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?

Please enter your email address:


Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"phenomenon." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Web. 30 Mar. 2023. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/phenomenon>.

Discuss these phenomenon definitions with the community:

0 Comments

    Are we missing a good definition for phenomenon? Don't keep it to yourself...

    Image or illustration of

    phenomenon

    Credit »

    Browse Definitions.net

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Chrome

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Firefox

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a words master?

    »
    base and cowardly
    • A. ostensive
    • B. sesquipedalian
    • C. naiant
    • D. currish

    Nearby & related entries:

    Alternative searches for phenomenon: