Phenomena

How to spell phenomena

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce phenomena

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does phenomena mean?

1. nounMore than one observable fact, event, or circumstance, especially ones that are remarkable or studied scientifically.

Phenomena in a sentence

• The lecture explored several natural phenomena that puzzle researchers.

• Weather phenomena such as hurricanes and droughts dominated the report.

Where does phenomena come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word is the plural of 'phenomenon', and it comes straight from the Greek phainomenon, which literally meant 'a thing that appears' or 'a thing that is seen'. That noun was built on the verb phainein, meaning 'to show' or 'to bring to light', the same root that lies behind 'fantasy' and 'phantom'. Greek nouns of this type form their plural by changing the ending to -a, so one phenomenon becomes several phenomena, exactly as one criterion becomes several criteria. English took the word in the late 1500s and early 1600s, first in scientific and philosophical writing for observable events or facts, then more broadly for anything remarkable. The borrowed Greek plural is precisely the spelling trap: writers must keep the final -a (not -on, and not an English -s), and the unstressed middle vowels in phe-NOM-e-na are easy to slip.

How the word is built

• phenomen- (from Greek phainomenon: a thing appearing)
• -a (Greek plural ending)