phenomenon

/fi-ˈnä-mə-ˌnän/

Late Latin phaenomenon, from Greek phainomenon, from neuter of phainomenos, present participle of phainesthai to appear, middle voice of phainein to show

noun

  1. an observable fact or event

  2. an object or aspect known through the senses rather than by thought or intuition

  3. a temporal or spatiotemporal object of sensory experience as distinguished from a noumenon

noun

  1. apparent motion resulting from an orderly sequence of stimuli (such as lights flashed in rapid succession a short distance apart on a sign) without any actual motion being presented to the eye

noun

  1. a mysterious flying object in the sky that is sometimes assumed to be a spaceship from another planet : UAP —used especially as an alternative to UFO or unidentified flying object