phenomenon

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As I pointed out on "The Agenda," these grand conspiracy theories violate Occam's Razor, the insight of a 14th century Franciscan that the simplest explanation for a phenomenon is the best.

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Definitions (37)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. noun An occurrence, circumstance, or fact that is perceptible by the senses.
  2. noun An unusual, significant, or unaccountable fact or occurrence; a marvel.
  3. noun A remarkable or outstanding person; a paragon. See Synonyms at wonder.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (28)

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Examples (50)

  • Another phenomenon is the growing number of Americans stranded at their home far away from possible jobs because of transportation issues, i.e. can't afford a car or the car is broken and can't afford to fix it. —  AlterNet.org Main RSS Feed
  • This phenomenon is about values and differences, real or perceived, in moral character. —  "E pur si muove!"
  • Fueling the phenomenon is the online video echo chamber, which gives the shouters amplification. —  TechNewsWorld
  • But the phenomenon is also evident globally: from France, where more families are sending their children to Catholic schools regardless of their religion, to Germany, where independent schools now make up 7.9 percent of all schools, up from 4.5 percent in 1992, to Australia and even China. —  Alanat News
  • The reason for this phenomenon could be a case of low sample size or because of overconfidence by the favored team or any other number of human factors, but the recent data is completely counter-intuitive. —  Baseball Analysts
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

aspect ·  theory ·  event ·  manifestation ·  concept ·  influence ·  occurrence ·  incident ·  sensation ·  possibility

Used in the same contextWord Family

phenomenon:   phenomena
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Late Latin phaenomenon, from Greek phainomenon, from neuter present participle of phainesthai, to appear; see bhā-1 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Formerly also phænomenon; = French phénomène = German phänomen = Swedish fenomen = Danish fanomen = Spanish fenómeno = Italian fenomeno = Portuguese phenomeno, from Late Latin phænomenon, from Greek φαινόμενον, plural φαινόμενα, that which appears or is seen, neuter of passive participle of φαίνειν, shine, show, passive φαίνεσθαι, appear, from √ φαν, extended form of √ φα = Sanskrit bhā, shine: see phase, face, etc. Cf. phantasm, phantom, phantasy, fancy, etc.
 

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/fəˈnɑmɛnɑn/
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