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Phenomenon vs Plot - What's the difference?

phenomenon | plot |

As nouns the difference between phenomenon and plot

is that phenomenon is an observable fact or occurrence or a kind of observable fact or occurrence while plot is the course of a story, comprising a series of incidents which are gradually unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means.

As a verb plot is

to conceive (a crime, etc).

phenomenon

Alternative forms

* phaenomenon, (archaic) * phainomenon * (qualifier)

Noun

(phenomena)
  • An observable fact or occurrence or a kind of observable fact or occurrence.
  • * 1900 , , The Making of Religion , ch. 1:
  • The Indians, making a hasty inference from a trivial phenomenon , arrived unawares at a probably correct conclusion.
  • * 2007 , " Ask the Experts: Hurricanes," USA Today , 7 Nov. (retrieved 16 Jan. 2009):
  • Hurricanes are a meteorological phenomenon .
  • Appearance; a perceptible aspect of something that is mutable.
  • * 1662 , Thomas Salusbury (translator), Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems of the World , First Day:
  • I verily believe that in the Moon there are no rains, for if Clouds should gather in any part thereof, as they do about the Earth, they would thereupon hide from our sight some of those things, which we with the Telescope behold in the Moon, and in a word, would some way or other change its Phœnomenon .
  • A fact or event considered very unusual, curious, or astonishing by those who witness it.
  • * 1816 , , The Antiquary—Volume I , ch. 18:
  • The phenomenon of a huge blazing fire, upon the opposite bank of the glen, again presented itself to the eye of the watchman. . . . He resolved to examine more nearly the object of his wonder.
  • A wonderful or very remarkable person or thing.
  • * 1839 , , Nicholas Nickleby , ch. 23:
  • "This, sir," said Mr Vincent Crummles, bringing the maiden forward, "this is the infant phenomenon —Miss Ninetta Crummles."
  • * 1888 , , "The Phantom Rickshaw":
  • But, all the same, you're a phenomenon', and as queer a ' phenomenon as you are a blackguard.
  • An experienced object whose constitution reflects the order and conceptual structure imposed upon it by the human mind (especially by the powers of perception and understanding).
  • * 1900 , , "Comparison of Some Views of Spencer and Kant," Mind , vol. 9, no. 34, p. 234:
  • Every "phenomenon " must be, at any rate, partly subjective or dependent on the subject.
  • * 1912 , , "Is There a Cognitive Relation?" The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods , vol. 9, no. 9, p. 232:
  • The Kantian phenomenon is the real as we are compelled to think it.

    Usage notes

    * The universal, common, modern spelling of this term is (term). Of the , phaenomenon, ,). * By far the most common and universally accepted plural form is the classical phenomena; the Anglicised phenomenons is also sometimes used. The plural form (term) is frequently misused in the singular. Arising from this misuse, the double plurals phenomenas and phenomenae, as well as a form employing the greengrocer’s apostrophe — — are seen in non-standard use; they are erroneous.

    Synonyms

    * (observable fact or occurrence) event * marvel, miracle, oddity, wonder * (wonderful person or thing) marvel, miracle, phenom, prodigy, wonder

    Antonyms

    * noumenon, thing-in-itself

    Derived terms

    * phenom

    plot

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The course of a story, comprising a series of incidents which are gradually unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • If the plot or intrigue must be natural, and such as springs from the subject, then the winding up of the plot must be a probable consequence of all that went before.
  • An area or land used for building on or planting on.
  • A graph or diagram drawn by hand or produced by a mechanical or electronic device.
  • A secret plan to achieve an end, the end or means usually being illegal or otherwise questionable.
  • The plot would have enabled them to get a majority on the board.
    The assassination of Lincoln was part of a larger plot .
  • * Shakespeare
  • I have overheard a plot of death.
  • * Addison
  • O, think what anxious moments pass between / The birth of plots and their last fatal periods!
  • Contrivance; deep reach thought; ability to plot or intrigue.
  • * Denham
  • a man of much plot
  • Participation in any stratagem or conspiracy.
  • * Milton
  • And when Christ saith, Who marries the divorced commits adultery, it is to be understood, if he had any plot in the divorce.
  • A plan; a purpose.
  • * Jeremy Taylor
  • no other plot in their religion but serve God and save their souls

    Synonyms

    * (course of a story) storyline * (area) parcel * (secret plan) conspiracy, scheme

    Derived terms

    * Gunpowder Plot * lose the plot * plotless * subplot * the plot thickens/plot thickens

    Verb

    (plott)
  • To conceive (a crime, etc).
  • They had ''plotted a robbery.
  • To trace out (a graph or diagram).
  • They ''plotted'' the number of edits per day.
  • To mark (a point on a graph, chart, etc).
  • Every five minutes they ''plotted'' their position.
  • * Carew
  • This treatise plotteth down Cornwall as it now standeth.
  • To conceive a crime, misdeed, etc.
  • ''They were plotting against the king.

    Synonyms

    * (contrive) becast * (sense) scheme

    Derived terms

    * replot

    Anagrams

    * * English control verbs ----