Phenomenon vs Theory - What's the difference?
phenomenon | theory |
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:
(obsolete) Mental conception; reflection, consideration.
* 1646 , (Thomas Browne), Pseudodoxia Epidemica , VII.19:
(sciences) A coherent statement or set of ideas that explains observed facts or phenomena, or which sets out the laws and principles of something known or observed; a hypothesis confirmed by observation, experiment etc.
* 2002 , Duncan Steel, The Guardian , 23 May 2002:
* 2003 , (Bill Bryson), A Short History of Nearly Everything , BCA, p. 118:
* 2009 , (Richard Dawkins), The Greatest Show On Earth: The Evidence for Evolution , Bantam, p. 10:
* {{quote-magazine, date=2012-01
, author=Michael Riordan
, title=Tackling Infinity
, volume=100, issue=1, page=86
, magazine=
(uncountable) The underlying principles or methods of a given technical skill, art etc., as opposed to its practice.
* 1990 , Tony Bennett, Outside Literature , p. 139:
* 1998 , Elizabeth Souritz, The Great History of Russian Ballet :
(mathematics) A field of study attempting to exhaustively describe a particular class of constructs.
A hypothesis or conjecture.
* 1999 , Wes DeMott, Vapors :
* 2003 , Sean Coughlan, The Guardian , 21 Jun 2003:
(countable, logic) A set of axioms together with all statements derivable from them. Equivalently, a formal language plus a set of axioms (from which can then be derived theorems).
As nouns the difference between phenomenon and theory
is that phenomenon is an observable fact or occurrence or a kind of observable fact or occurrence while theory is (obsolete) mental conception; reflection, consideration.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 pluralstheory
English
Noun
- As they encrease the hatred of vice in some, so doe they enlarge the theory of wickednesse in all.
- It was only when Einstein's theory' of relativity was published in 1915 that physicists could show that Mercury's "anomaly" was actually because Newton's gravitational ' theory was incomplete.
- The world would need additional decades [...] before the Big Bang would begin to move from interesting idea to established theory .
- Scientists and creationists are understanding the word "theory'" in two very different senses. Evolution is a '''theory''' in the same sense as the heliocentric '''theory'''. In neither case should the word "only" be used, as in "only a ' theory ".
citation, passage=Some of the most beautiful and thus appealing physical theories', including quantum electrodynamics and quantum gravity, have been dogged for decades by infinities that erupt when theorists try to prod their calculations into new domains. Getting rid of these nagging infinities has probably occupied far more effort than was spent in originating the ' theories .}}
- Does this mean, then, that there can be no such thing as a theory of literature?
- Lopukhov wrote a number of books and articles on ballet theory , as well as his memoirs.
- Knot theory classifies the mappings of a circle into 3-space.
- It's just a theory I have, and I wonder if women would agree. But don't men say a lot about themselves when a short-skirted woman slides out of a car or chair?
- The theory is that by stripping costs to the bone, they are able to offer ludicrously low fares.
- A theory is consistent if it has a model.