• phenomenon •
Pronunciation: fê-nah-mê-nahn • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: 1. A perceptible manifestation, an object or event that is observable or otherwise perceptible. (Plural: phenomena). 2. A marvel, anything remarkable, outstanding, or otherwise extraordinary. (Plural: phenomenons).
Notes: Because of the oddity of this word's preserved Latin plural, phenomena, its misuse as a singular noun is now accepted by all major dictionaries with its own plural, phenomenas. The earliest example of such misusage appeared in print in 1706. The adjective is phenomenal. Phenomenology is the philosophy of how we perceive reality.
In Play: The plural of the original sense (No. 1) of today's word is phenomena: "All aspects of social phenomena are currently discussed widely in the Internet social media." The second sense of this word is probably used more often than the original: "No one expected Trump to become the political phenomenon he has now become."
Word History: Today's Good Word started its life as Greek phainomenon "that which appears", from the verb, phainesthai "to appear", the passive of phainein "show, cause to appear". English copied the Latin version, phaenomenon. Greek phainein was built on PIE bha- "to shine", also found in Sanskrit bhati "shines, appears", Armenian bac "open, naked, undisguised", Greek phantasia "appearance" from phantos "visible", Irish bán "white", English beacon and banner, and Spanish banda "sash, belt" from Late Latin bandum "banner", borrowed from a Germanic language. (Now, for a show of gratitude to Tony Bowden of London for nudging us to work up today's phenomenal Good Word.)
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