phenomenon
noun
Phenomenon — anything known to the senses, before it is explained
Definition
Any state or process known through the senses rather than by intuition or reasoning
In depth
A phenomenon is any state or process apprehended through direct sensory experience rather than through intuition or pure reasoning, the observable fact of something occurring, prior to whatever theory might later explain it. The word also carries a popular extended sense, describing anything remarkable or extraordinary, a person or event so striking it seems to demand explanation.
Origin
The word descends from Greek phainomenon, that which appears or is shown, the present participle of phainesthai, to appear. That root sense of mere appearance, prior to interpretation, remains philosophically important: a phenomenon is, strictly, what shows itself to perception, leaving the work of explaining why it appears to a separate and later act of reasoning.
Usage examples
"Lightning was, for most of human history, a phenomenon without a satisfying explanation."
"The young musician was hailed, by the age of twelve, as a genuine phenomenon."
"Grief itself, the psychologist noted, remains a poorly understood phenomenon, despite how universally it is experienced."
How to use it
Phenomenon is precise vocabulary for science and philosophy, where it distinguishes the observed fact from any theoretical explanation of it, but it has also entered everyday speech as a more casual superlative. Writers should be attentive to which register a given context calls for.
Related concepts
Looking for a word but don't know its name?
Try the Word Finder →