epiphany

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English epiphanie,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French epiphanie,^[2][4][5] from Late Latin epiphania,^[2][3][4][5] from Ancient Greek ἐπιφάνεια (epipháneia, “manifestation, striking appearance”),^[2][4][5] from Ancient Greek ἐπιφαίνω (epiphaínō, “to manifest, appear”),^[2][4][5] from Ancient Greek ἐπί (epí, “on, forth”) + φαίνω (phaínō, “to show”).^[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The festival on 6 January commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles in the persons of the Magi (before 1310).^[6][4][5]

Semantic evolution

In Greek the word was used for the appearance of a god, and in the New Testament for the coming of Christ.^[4][5] In English it was applied to manifestations of other divine beings by the 1660s,^[5][6] and in 1840 Thomas De Quincey used it for any revelation.^[5][6][4] From this came the modern sense of a sudden, intuitive insight into the meaning of something.^[2][3][7]

Timeline

• before 1310 – the church festival of 6 January.^[6][4]
• before 1667 – the appearance of a divine or superhuman being.^[6][5]
• 1840 – any manifestation or revelation.^[6][5][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A sudden realization or insight into the essential meaning of something.
2. An appearance or manifestation, especially of a divine being.
3. (usually capitalized) A Christian feast on 6 January celebrating the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles through the Magi.

Word family

• epiphanic
• epiphanous

Related words

• phenomenon
• fantasy
• diaphanous

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House