I. ə̇ˈpifənē, ēˈ-, eˈ, -ni noun
( -es )
Usage: usually capitalized
Etymology: Middle English epiphanie, from Middle French epiphanie, from Late Latin epiphania, from Late Greek epiphania, plural, from neuter plural of epiphanios manifest, from Greek epiphainein to display, make manifest, from epi- + phainein to show — more at fancy
: a Christian feast celebrated on January 6 originally and still in the Eastern Church commemorating the baptism of Christ and secondarily the marriage feast at Cana but since the 5th century in the Western Church commemorating the coming of the Magi as the occasion of the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles — called also Twelfth Day
II. noun
( -es )
Etymology: Greek epiphaneia, literally, appearance, manifestation, from epiphanēs coming to light, appearing (from epiphainein ) + -ia -y
1.
a. : an appearance of revelatory manifestation of God or of a divine being or a god
the epiphany of Jesus at the Transfiguration
the prophetess of the ancient Greeks prophesied on the day of the god's epiphany
b. : an incarnation of God or a god in earthly form
the epiphany of God in Christ
Greek goddesses that had rabbit and pig epiphanies
2.
a. : a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something
its soul, its whatness leaps to us from the vestment of its appearance … the object achieves its epiphany — James Joyce
: an intuitive grasp of reality through something usually simple and striking (as a commonplace event or person)
Stephen's brothers and sisters, formerly seen as separate entities … became the essence of childhood; in the performance of his labor, Joyce progressed from things to epiphanies of things — J.W.Aldridge
b. : a literary representation of an epiphany : a symbolically revealing work or part of a work
the epiphany in Oedipus, the final tableau of the blind old man with his incestuous brood … conveys the moral truth which underlay the action — Francis Fergusson
III. noun
: an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure