All 3 Uses of
phenomenon
in
The Phantom of the Opera
- When I began to ransack the archives of the National Academy of Music I was at once struck by the surprising coincidences between the phenomena ascribed to the "ghost" and the most extraordinary and fantastic tragedy that ever excited the Paris upper classes; and I soon conceived the idea that this tragedy might reasonably be explained by the phenomena in question.†
Chpt Prol.phenomena = things that exists or happened -- often of special interest
- When I began to ransack the archives of the National Academy of Music I was at once struck by the surprising coincidences between the phenomena ascribed to the "ghost" and the most extraordinary and fantastic tragedy that ever excited the Paris upper classes; and I soon conceived the idea that this tragedy might reasonably be explained by the phenomena in question.†
Chpt Prol.
- She was unable to explain this phenomenon, which was not new to her, except by the intervention of the ghost.†
Chpt 4 *phenomenon = something that exists or happened -- often of special interest
Definitions:
-
(1)
(phenomenon) something that exists or happened -- especially something of special interest -- sometimes someone or something that is extraordinary"Phenomenons" and "phenomena" are both appropriate plural forms of this noun. "Phenomena" is generally used in scientific or philosophical contexts.
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
In philosophy, a phenomenon is something as known through the senses. It is contrasted with a noumenon.