- plural of phenomenon.
phenomena
Americannoun
noun
Usage
As with other plurals of Latin or Greek origin, like media and criteria, there is a tendency to use the plural phenomena as a singular ( This phenomena will not be seen again ), but such use occurs infrequently in edited writing. The plural form phenomenas, though occasionally seen, has even less currency.
Etymology
Origin of phenomena
First recorded in 1580–90 with spelling phænomena
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
We see them as physical phenomena, but they still draw our sight up in wonder.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Had I accidentally discovered a supernatural portal where time and space didn’t exist, one where random phenomena of blinding beauty could materialize on this plane without any logical explanation?
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
"Just like superconductivty, charge density waves are a collective phenomena where electrons move together in certain ways," explains lead author Yifan Su.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026
These odd phenomena convinced ancient cultures that eclipses were signs of the apocalypse -- or messages from the gods.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
The project neatly combined work each had been doing previously—Lawrence’s research under Swann into the photoelectric effect in gas vapor and Beams’s investigation of short-lived physical phenomena.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
