phenomenon Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun any state or process known through the senses rather than by intuition or reasoning
  2. noun a remarkable development

WordNet

Phe*nom"e*non noun
Etymology
L. phaenomenon, Gr. faino`menon, fr. fai`nesqai to appear, fai`nein to show. See Phantom.
Wordforms
plural Phenomena
Definitions
  1. An appearance; anything visible; whatever, in matter or spirit, is apparent to, or is apprehended by, observation; as, the phenomena of heat, light, or electricity; phenomena of imagination or memory.
    In the phenomena of the material world, and in many of the phenomena of mind. Stewart.
  2. That which strikes one as strange, unusual, or unaccountable; an extraordinary or very remarkable person, thing, or occurrence; as, a musical phenomenon.

Webster 1913