phenomenon Hear it!

phenomenon Definition

phe·nom·enon (fə näm′ə nən, -nän′)

noun pl. -·na-nə, -·nons′

  1. any event, circumstance, or experience that is apparent to the senses and that can be scientifically described or appraised, as an eclipse
  2. in Kantian philosophy, a thing as it appears in perception as distinguished from the thing as it is in itself independent of sense experience
  3. any extremely unusual or extraordinary thing or occurrence
  4. Informal a person with an extraordinary quality, aptitude, etc.; prodigy

Etymology: LL phaenomenon < Gr phainomenon, neut. prp. of phainesthai, to appear, akin to phainein: see fantasy

phenomenon Synonyms

phenomenon

n.

  1. Event

    aspect, appearance, happening; see event 1.

  2. Something amazing

    marvel, wonder, miracle, sensation, phenom*; see also wonder 2.

phenomenon Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • luminescence: Inventive designs with there's still a moissan and disks phenomenon of long-lived luminescence.
  • hypnosis: Here it is assumed that this sensory acuity is a spontaneously occurring phenomenon of hypnosis and this may not be the case.

Converse of object

  • explain: Perhaps the English word " reception " isn't the best way to explain the phenomenon, I don't know.
  • observe: Contrast it with Bohr's cautious approach to the problem of observing quantum phenomena; .. .
  • underlie: It addresses the causes and mechanisms underlying the phenomenon, focusing on Cohen et al. 's ( 1990 ) PDP model.
  • investigate: Ask them to suggest ways in which they could investigate the phenomena.
  • describe: Chaos theory, which describes phenomena whose exact outcomes cannot be predicted, offers a gap for God to act in the world.
  • understand: The general unifying principles that can be used to understand diverse ecological genetic phenomena.

Adjective modifier

  • paranormal: Roll, of Bristol, England, a former businessman, is a long-time explorer of paranormal phenomena.
  • psychic: We know what we mean by psychic phenomena, even if we can't define them.
  • natural: The whole thing is narrated by the natural phenomena from the moon: " Time for night to go.
  • observed: These papers will be assessed in relation to their coherence with observed phenomena.
  • unexplained: Also, these effects correspond with many of the unexplained phenomena reported in connection with UFOs.
  • strange: In the early 1980s, US doctors began to notice a strange phenomenon.

Noun used with modifier

  • quantum: Contrast it with Bohr's cautious approach to the problem of observing quantum phenomena; .. .
  • abduction: This theory is supported by the reasons behind the abduction phenomenon, as is very streamlined, without involving other species as manipulators.
  • trance: This is where we delve into the realms of deep trance phenomena, the medium in which our creative activity takes place.
  • bifurcation: These events are initiated by plastic flow instabilities and bifurcation phenomena.
  • ufo: Well, there are ufo groups which investigate the ufo phenomenon: like the well known BUFORA ( British UFO Research Association ).
  • podcasting: Audio programming has become cheap and easy to make and has led to the rapid spread of the podcasting phenomenon.
phenomenon Quotes

Crime is a socio-political artifact, not a natural phenomenon.We can have as much or as little crime as we please, depending on what we choose to count as criminal.

—Packer, Herbert Leslie

   Language was not powerful enough to describe the infant phenomenon.

—Dickens, CharlesJohn Huffam

Oversimplification isnowa commontermof reproach in academic discussions; everyone is against oversimplification. But there is no parallel term nearlyas frequently used to describe the opposite phenomenon, which surely occurs as often, if not more so.

—Berger, Bennett Maurice

O to be a dragon, a symbol of the power of Heavenöof silkworm size or immense; at times invisible. Felicitous phenomenon!

—Moore, Marianne Craig

If we knew all the laws of Nature, we should need only one fact, or the description of one actual phenomenon, to infer all the particular results at that point. Now we know onlya few laws, and our result is vitiated, not, of course, byany confusion or irregularity in Nature, but by our ignorance of essential elements in the calculation. Our notions of law and harmony are commonly confined to those instances which we detect; but the harmony which results from a far greater number of seemingly conflicting, but reallyconcurring, laws, which Thoreau we have not detected, is still more wonderful. The particular laws are as our points of view, as, to the traveler, a mountain outline varies with every step, and it has an infinite number of profiles, though absolutely but one form. Even when cleft or bored through it is not comprehended in its entireness.

—Thoreau, Henry David

The AIDS epidemic has rolled back a big rotting log and revealed all the squirming life underneath it, since it involves, all at once, the main themes of our existence: sex, death, power, money, love, hate, disease and panic. No American phenomenon has been so compelling since theVietnam War.

—White, Edmund

When every fact, every present or past phenomenon of [the] universe, every phase of present or past lifetherein, has been examined, classified, and coordinatedwith the rest, thenthemissionof sciencewill be completed.What isthisbut saying thatthetaskof science canneverend till man ceases to be, till history is no longer made, and development itself ceases?

—Pearson, Karl

A backlash against women's rights is nothing new. Indeed, it's a recurring phenomenon: it returns every time women begin to make some headway towards equality, a seemingly inevitable early frost to the brief flowerings of feminism.

—Faludi, Susan