epiphany Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a divine manifestation
  2. noun twelve days after Christmas; celebrates the visit of the three wise men to the infant Jesus
    January 6; Epiphany of Our Lord; Twelfth day; Three Kings' Day.

WordNet

E*piph"a*ny noun
Etymology
F. épiphanie, L. epiphania, Gr. (sc. ), for appearance, fr. to show forth; + to show. See Fancy.
Definitions
  1. An appearance, or a becoming manifest.
    Whom but just before they beheld transfigured and in a glorious epiphany upon the mount. Jer. Taylor.
    An epic poet, if ever such a difficult birth should make its epiphany in Paris. De Quincey.
  2. (Eccl.) A church festival celebrated on the 6th of January, the twelfth day after Christmas, in commemoration of the visit of the Magi of the East to Bethlehem, to see and worship the child Jesus; or, as others maintain, to commemorate the appearance of the star to the Magi, symbolizing the manifestation of Christ to the Gentles; Twelfthtide.

Webster 1913