phenomenon

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: phe=nom=e=non

CIDE DICTIONARY

phenomenon, n. [L. phaenomenon, Gr. faino`menon, fr. fai`nesqai to appear, fai`nein to show. See Phantom.].

•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "In the phenomena of the material world, and in many of the phenomena of mind."  [1913 Webster]
•  That which strikes one as strange, unusual, or unaccountable; an extraordinary or very remarkable person, thing, or occurrence; as, a musical phenomenon.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

phenomenon, n. (pl. phenomena)
1 a fact or occurrence that appears or is perceived, esp. one of which the cause is in question.
2 a remarkable person or thing.
3 Philos. the object of a person's perception; what the senses or the mind notice.

Etymology

LL f. Gk phainomenon neut. pres. part. of phainomai appear f. phaino show

THESAURUS

phenomenon

abnormality, actuality, adventure, amazement, anomaly, apparition, appearance, astonishing thing, astonishment, circumstance, curiosity, episode, event, exception, experience, fact, false image, figure, form, gazingstock, hap, happening, happenstance, image, incident, marvel, marvelment, matter of fact, miracle, mirage, nonesuch, occasion, occurrence, paradox, particular, peculiarity, phantom, phasm, portent, presence, prodigy, quite a thing, rarity, reality, sensation, shape, sight, singularity, something else, spectacle, stunner, turn of events, uniqueness, unusualness, vision, wonder, wonderful thing, wonderment

ROGET THESAURUS

phenomenon

Extrinsicality

N extrinsicality, objectiveness, non ego, extraneousness, accident, appearance, phenomenon, derived from without, objective, extrinsic, extrinsical, extraneous, modal, adventitious, ascititious, adscititious, incidental, accidental, nonessential, contingent, fortuitous, implanted, ingrafted, inculcated, infused, outward, apparent, extrinsically.

Eventuality

N eventuality, event, occurrence, incident, affair, matter, thing, episode, happening, proceeding, contingency, juncture, experience, fact, matter of fact, naked fact, bare facts, just the facts, phenomenon, advent, business, concern, transaction, dealing, proceeding, circumstance, particular, casualty, accident, adventure, passage, crisis, pass, emergency, contingency, consequence, opportunity (occasion), the world, life, things, doings, affairs in general, things in general, affairs in general, the times, state of affairs, order of the day, course of things, tide of things, stream of things, current of things, run of things, march of things, course of events, ups and downs of life, vicissitudes of life, chapter of accidents, situation, happening, going on, doing, current, in the wind, in the air, afloat, on foot, afoot, on the tapis, at issue, in question, incidental, eventful, stirring, bustling, full of incident, memorable, momentous, signal, eventually, in the event of, in case, just in case, in the course of things, as things, times go, as the world goes, wags, as the tree falls, cat jumps, as it may turn out, happen, that's the way the ball bounces, that's the way the cookie crumbles, you never know what may turn up, you never know what the future will bring, the plot thickens, breasts the blows of circumstance, so runs round of life from hour to hour, sprinkled along the waste of years.

Prodigy

N prodigy, phenomenon, wonder, wonderment, marvel, miracle, monster, curiosity, lion, sight, spectacle, jeu de theatre, coup de theatre, gazingstock, sign, St. Elmo's fire, St. Elmo's light, portent, bursting of a shell, bursting of a bomb, volcanic eruption, peal of thunder, thunder-clap, thunder-bolt, what no words can paint, wonders of the world, annus mirabilis, dignus vindice nodus, natura il fece e poi roppe la stampa.

Appearance

N appearance, phenomenon, sight, spectacle, show, premonstration, scene, species, view, coup d'oeil, lookout, outlook, prospect, vista, perspective, bird's-eye view, scenery, landscape, picture, tableau, display, exposure, mise en sc ne, rising of the curtain, phantasm, phantom, pageant, spectacle, peep-show, raree-show, gallanty-show, ombres chinoises, magic lantern, phantasmagoria, dissolving views, biograph, cinematograph, moving pictures, panorama, diorama, cosmorama, georama, coup de theatre, jeu de theatre, pageantry, insignia, aspect, angle, phase, phasis, seeming, shape, guise, look, complexion, color, image, mien, air, cast, carriage, port, demeanor, presence, expression, first blush, face of the thing, point of view, light, lineament feature trait lines, outline, outside, contour, face, countenance, physiognomy, visage, phiz, cast of countenance, profile, tournure, cut of one s jib, metoposcopy, outside, apparent, seeming, ostensible, on view, apparently, to all seeming, to all appearance, ostensibly, seemingly, as it seems, on the face of it, prima facie, at the first blush, at first sight, in the eyes of, to the eye, editio princeps.