Epiphany - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

e·piph·a·ny

Audio Help [i-pif-uh-nee] Pronunciation Key

–noun, plural -nies.

1.	(initial capital letter) a Christian festival, observed on January 6, commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles in the persons of the Magi; Twelfth-day.

2.	an appearance or manifestation, esp. of a deity.

3.	a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.

4.	a literary work or section of a work presenting, usually symbolically, such a moment of revelation and insight.

[Origin: 1275–1325; ME epiphanie < LL epiphanīa < LGk epipháneia, Gk: apparition, equiv. to epi- epi- + phan- (s. of phaínein to appear) + -eia -y³

]

—Related forms

ep·i·phan·ic

Audio Help [ep-uh-fan-ik] Pronunciation Key, e·piph·a·nous, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Epiphany

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

e·piph·a·ny Audio Help (ĭ-pĭf'ə-nē) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. e·piph·a·nies

Epiphany
1. A Christian feast celebrating the manifestation of the divine nature of Jesus to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi.
2. January 6, on which this feast is traditionally observed.
3. A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something.
4. A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization: "I experienced an epiphany, a spiritual flash that would change the way I viewed myself" (Frank Maier).
A revelatory manifestation of a divine being.
1. A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something.
2. A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization: "I experienced an epiphany, a spiritual flash that would change the way I viewed myself" (Frank Maier).

[Middle English epiphanie, from Old French, from Late Latin epiphania, from Greek epiphaneia, manifestation, from epiphainesthai, to appear : epi-, forth; see epi- + phainein, phan-, to show; see bhā-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

ep'i·phan'ic (ěp'ə-fān'ĭk) adj.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
epiphany

c.1310, "festival of the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles" (celebrated Jan. 6; usually with a capital -E-), from O.Fr. epiphanie, from L.L. epiphania, neut. pl. (taken as fem. sing.), from Gk. epiphaneia "manifestation, striking appearance" (in N.T., advent or manifestation of Christ), from epiphanes "manifest, conspicuous," from epiphainein "to manifest, display," from epi- "on, to" + phainein "to show." Of divine beings other than Christ, first recorded c.1667; general literary sense appeared 1840, first in De Quincey.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

epiphany
noun
1.	a divine manifestation
2.	twelve days after Christmas; celebrates the visit of the three wise men to the infant Jesus

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
Epiphany [(i-pif-uh-nee)]

A festival in Christianity celebrating the visit of the Wise Men to the infant Jesus. Epiphany means “a showing forth” — in this case a showing forth of Jesus to the Gentiles.

[Chapter:] World Literature, Philosophy, and Religion

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Epiphany

E*piph"a*ny\, n. [F. ['e]piphanie, L. epiphania, Gr. 'epifa`nia (sc. ?), for 'epifa`neia appearance, fr. 'epifai`nein to show forth; 'epi` + fai`nein to show. See Fancy.]

1. An appearance, or a becoming manifest.

Whom but just before they beheld transfigured and in a glorious epiphany upon the mount. --Jer. Taylor.

An epic poet, if ever such a difficult birth should make its epiphany in Paris. --De Quincey.

2. (Eccl.) A church festival celebrated on the 6th of January, the twelfth day after Christmas, in commemoration of the visit of the Magi of the East to Bethlehem, to see and worship the child Jesus; or, as others maintain, to commemorate the appearance of the star to the Magi, symbolizing the manifestation of Christ to the Gentles; Twelfthtide.

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