English

Alternative forms

• phænomena (archaic)
• phœnomena (archaic, erroneous)

Noun

phenomena pl

1. plural form of phenomenon.
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 2, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, […]; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid, […]—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher.

Usage notes

• May occasionally be used as a singular. This is generally considered an error. Compare criteria.