Etymology

phenom

P3H4E1N1O1M3

Today it means: Someone or something that is phenomenal, especially a promising young player in sports like baseball, American football, basketball, tennis, and golf. Full definition →

English phenomenonclip. ← Late Latin phaenomenon ← Ancient Greek φαινόμενον (phainómenon)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰh₂nyéti
  3. Proto-Hellenic*pʰáňňō
  4. Ancient Greekφαίνω (phaínō)
  5. Ancient Greekφαινόμενον (phainómenon)
  6. Late Latinphaenomenon
  7. Englishphenomenonclip.
  8. English todayphenom

Clipping of phenomenon (“remarkable occurrence”). American English, c. 1890s.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.