Phenomenon vs Situation - What's the difference?
phenomenon | situation |
An observable fact or occurrence or a kind of observable fact or occurrence.
* 1900 , , The Making of Religion , ch. 1:
* 2007 , "
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:
A fact or event considered very unusual, curious, or astonishing by those who witness it.
* 1816 , , The Antiquary—Volume I , ch. 18:
A wonderful or very remarkable person or thing.
* 1839 , , Nicholas Nickleby , ch. 23:
* 1888 , , "The Phantom Rickshaw":
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:
* 1912 , , "Is There a Cognitive Relation?" The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods , vol. 9, no. 9, p. 232:
The way in which something is positioned vis-à-vis its surroundings.
* 1908 , (Kenneth Grahame), (The Wind in the Willows) :
The place in which something is situated; a location.
* 1833 , Thomas Hibbert and Robert Buist, The American Flower Garden Directory , page 142:
Position or status with regard to conditions and circumstances.
The combination of circumstances at a given moment; a state of affairs.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5
, passage=Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.}}
(UK, dated) A position of employment; a post.
* 1913 , , (Sons and Lovers) , Penguin 2006, page 78:
* 1946 , Vaughn Horton, Denver Darling, Milt Gabler, :
A difficult or unpleasant set of circumstances; a problem.
As nouns the difference between phenomenon and situation
is that phenomenon is an observable fact or occurrence or a kind of observable fact or occurrence while situation is the way in which something is positioned vis-à-vis its surroundings.phenomenon
English
(wikipedia phenomenon)Alternative forms
* phaenomenon, (archaic) * phainomenon * (qualifier)Noun
(phenomena)- The Indians, making a hasty inference from a trivial phenomenon , arrived unawares at a probably correct conclusion.
Ask the Experts: Hurricanes," USA Today , 7 Nov. (retrieved 16 Jan. 2009):
- Hurricanes are a meteorological phenomenon .
- 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 .
- 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.
- "This, sir," said Mr Vincent Crummles, bringing the maiden forward, "this is the infant phenomenon —Miss Ninetta Crummles."
- But, all the same, you're a phenomenon', and as queer a ' phenomenon as you are a blackguard.
- Every "phenomenon " must be, at any rate, partly subjective or dependent on the subject.
- 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, wonderAntonyms
* noumenon, thing-in-itselfDerived terms
* phenomExternal links
* * English nouns with irregular pluralssituation
English
Alternative forms
* scituationNoun
(en noun)- ...he being naturally an underground animal by birth and breeding, the situation of Badger's house exactly suited him and made him feel at home; while the Rat, who slept every night in a bedroom the windows of which opened on a breezy river, naturally felt the atmosphere still and oppressive.
- [Hibíscus] speciòsus is the most splendid, and deserves a situation in every garden.
- When he was nineteen, he suddenly left the 'Co-op' office, and got a situation in Nottingham.
- You take a morning paper from the top of the stack
- And read the situations from the front to the back
- The only job that's open need a man with a knack
- So put it right back in the rack Jack.
- Boss, we've got a situation here...