Meanings
plural gignomena
- "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 131 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 - 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
- Ancient Greekγιγνόμενον“thing which is becoming”
- 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)
More words from Ancient Greek
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Rhymes with gignomenon
All rhymes →Cite this entry
gignomenon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gignomenon
“gignomenon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gignomenon. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gignomenon,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gignomenon.
Source: gignomenon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.