gignomenon

gig·no·me·non
G2I1G2N1O1M3E1N1O1N1

noun

"Becoming," as opposed to "Being"; a phenomenon considered as occurrence rather than appearance.

Scrabble 14

Meanings

noungignomenon (plural gignomena)

plural gignomena

  1. "Becoming," as opposed to "Being"; a phenomenon considered as occurrence rather than appearance.

    That which we name variously our "self," or "personality," or "individuality," or "soul," is just a phenomenon, or gignomenon, like another.

    1931, Paul Elmer More, The Catholic Faith, Princeton University Press, page 13
    1 more example

    In his epistemological "reduction" or classification of the gignomena Ziehen really occupies the Humean standpoint, since he divides them into sensational and ideational gignomena which differ from each other merely in degrees of vividness.

    1916 July 15, L. R. Geissler, “Special Reviews: Die Grundlagen der Psychologie, T. Ziehen, Leipzig: Teubner, 1915”, in Psychological Bulletin, volume 13, number 7, page 286
  2. By extension, that which is ephemeral or inessential.

    Without [a belief in the higher unity of truth] are we not committed to the assumption that literature has nothing to do with truth, that it is only illusion, froth on the historical current, the Platonic gignomenon?

    1953, Allen Tate, “Is Literary Criticism Possible?”, in The Forlorn Demon, Chicago: Regnery, page 106

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekγιγνόμενον“thing which is becoming”
  2. Englishgignomenon

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek γιγνόμενον (gignómenon, “thing which is becoming”), neuter present middle participle of γίγνομαι (gígnomai, “I become”). Compare Timaeus 38B: τό τε γεγονὸς εἶναι γεγονὸς καὶ τὸ γιγνόμενον εἶναι γιγνόμενον, ἔτι τε τὸ γενησόμενον εἶναι γενησόμενον (tó te gegonòs eînai gegonòs kaì tò gignómenon eînai gignómenon, éti te tò genēsómenon eînai genēsómenon, “what is become is become, and what is becoming is becoming, and what is about to become is about to become”) (translated by Bernadotte Perrin)

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Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with gignomenon

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Cite this entry
APA

gignomenon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gignomenon

MLA

“gignomenon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gignomenon. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gignomenon,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gignomenon.

Source: gignomenon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.