Etymologically
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phaenomenon

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pʰae̯ˈnɔ.mɛ.nɔn][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [feˈnɔː.me.non][1]

Forms

phaenomenon n (genitive phaenomenī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek φαινόμενον (phainómenon, “appearance, that which appears”),[1][2][3] the neuter present participle of φαίνω (phaínō, “to bring to light, show”).[3] Köbler compares Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to shine”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Lactantius the plural phaenomena means appearances in the sky.[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Phaenomena was the title of a poem by Aratus on the heavens,[2][4] which Cicero and others translated into Latin.[5] Around 400 AD the medical writer Theodorus Priscianus used the singular for an appearance in general, or a symptom.[2][6][5][3] Ecclesiastical Latin has it in the general sense “phenomenon”.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses the plural for appearances in the sky.[2][5][3]
  • c. 400 AD – Theodorus Priscianus uses it for an appearance or symptom.[6][5][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin) An appearance; in medicine, a symptom.[2][6][5]
  2. (plural) Appearances in the sky, astronomical phenomena.[2][4][6]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A phenomenon.[7][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson