Phenomenon

/fəˈnɒm.ɪ.nən/ · noun

Meaning

A thing or being, event or process, perceptible through senses; or a fact or occurrence thereof..

Definitions by Sense

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 (e.g. 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).

Example Sentences

The year 1866 was signalised by a remarkable incident, a mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon, which doubtless no one has yet forgotten.

The Indians, making a hasty inference from a trivial phenomenon, arrived unawares at a probably correct conclusion.

In the sense in which we are using the term, the intellectuals are in fact a fairly new phenomenon of history.

Hurricanes are a meteorological phenomenon.

An electromagnetic phenomenon.

A volcanic eruption is an impressive phenomenon.

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.

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.

Synonyms for phenomenon

Antonyms for phenomenon

Related Words

Word Forms

• phenomena
• phenomenons
• phenomenon
• phaenomenon
• phænomenon
• phainomenon
• phœnomenon

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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