Phenomenon

How to spell phenomenon

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce phenomenon

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does phenomenon mean?

1. nounAn observable fact, event, or occurrence, especially one that is remarkable or whose cause is being studied.

Phenomenon in a sentence

• The researchers spent years trying to explain the strange weather phenomenon.

• Social media has become a global phenomenon that reshapes how people shop.

Where does phenomenon come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word comes from the Greek phainomenon, which literally meant 'a thing that appears' or 'that which is seen', the neuter present participle of the verb phainesthai, 'to appear', itself from phainein, 'to bring to light' or 'to show'. Greek philosophers used it for anything that presents itself to the senses, as opposed to the hidden reality behind it, a contrast that later powered the word 'phenomenology'. Latin took it over as phaenomenon, and English adopted it in the late 1500s, at first chiefly as a scientific term for an observed fact or event. Over time it broadened to mean any remarkable or exceptional occurrence or person. The same phainein root glows quietly inside 'fantasy', 'phantom', and 'diaphanous', and the awkward Greek -non ending is exactly why the spelling traps writers, who often drift toward the plural-sounding 'phenomenom' or 'phenominon'.

How the word is built

• phenomen- (from Greek phainomenon: appearing thing)
• -on (Greek neuter noun ending)