phenomena

noun

phe·​nom·​e·​na fi-ˈnä-mə-nə 

-ˌnä

plural phenomenas

nonstandard

: phenomenon

Can phenomena be used as a singular?: Usage Guide

Phenomena has been in occasional use as a singular since the early 18th century, as has the plural phenomenas. Our evidence shows that singular phenomena is primarily a speech form used by poets, critics, and professors, among others, but one that sometimes turns up in edited prose.

Although it seemed like a fad a few years ago, Twitter has evolved into a phenomena with more than 200 million users …

—Myron P. Medcalf

It is etymologically no more irregular than stamina and agenda, but it has nowhere near the frequency of use that they have, and while they are standard, phenomena is still rather borderline.

Examples of phenomena in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The ‘phenomena’ list With the success of the 2024 total solar eclipse drawing mass travel along the path of totality, natural phenomena are set to dominate travel trends in 2025, predicts Geographic Expeditions. —Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 9 Jan. 2025

Scientists Make Largest-Ever Map of Supermassive Black Holes By Shane Croucher Senior Editor 0 Astronomy continues to unlock the secrets of the universe, revealing stunning phenomena, reshaping our understanding of the cosmos, and sparking new questions for scientists to explore. —David Faris, Newsweek, 30 Dec. 2024

But quantum computers can exploit quantum phenomena like superposition and entanglement to compute these problems much faster, and a powerful enough machine should be able to break current encryption. —IEEE Spectrum, 28 Dec. 2024

However, the majority of commenters seem to believe that these videos were in fact proof of unexplained phenomena. —Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 18 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1708, in the meaning defined above