1797, from Ger. Phänomenologie, used as the title of the fourth part of the "Neues Organon" of Ger. physicist Johann Heinrich Lambert (1728-77), coined from Gk. phainomenon (see phenomenon) + -logia, from -logos "one who deals with certain topics." Psychological sense, esp. in Gestalt theory, is from 1930.
Main Entry: phe·nom·e·nol·o·gy Pronunciation: fi-"näm-&-'näl-&-jE Function: noun Inflected Form: plural-gies : the way in which one perceives and interprets events and one's relationship to them in contrast both to one's objective responses to stimuli and to any inferred unconsciousmotivation for one's behavior; also: a psychology based on the theory that phenomenology determines behavior —phe·nom·e·no·log·i·cal/fi-"näm-&n-&l-'äj-i-k&l/adjective
[fi-nom-uh-nol-uh-jee] 
l]