epiphany

UK: 'Epiphany': /ɪˈpɪfəni/; 'epiphany': /ɪˈpɪfənɪ/

US: (i pif′ə nē)

Inflections of 'epiphany' (n): npl: epiphanies

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

e•piph•a•ny  (i pif′ə nē), n., pl. -nies. 

1. Religion (cap.) a Christian festival, observed on January 6, commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles in the persons of the Magi; Twelfth-day.
2. Religion an appearance or manifestation, esp. of a deity.
3. a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.
4. Literature a literary work or section of a work presenting, usually symbolically, such a moment of revelation and insight.

• Late Greek epipháneia, Greek: apparition, equivalent. to epi- epi- + phan- (stem of phaínein to appear) + -eia -y³
• Late Latin epiphanīa
• Middle English epiphanie 1275–1325

ep•i•phan•ic  (ep′ə fan′ik), e•piph′a•nous, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

epiphany / ɪˈpɪfənɪ/ noun ( -nies)

1. the manifestation of a supernatural or divine reality
2. any moment of great or sudden revelation

Etymology: 17th Century: via Church Latin from Greek epiphaneia an appearing, from epi- + phainein to show

epiphanic / ˌɛpɪˈfænɪk/ adjective

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Epiphany / ɪˈpɪfənɪ/ noun ( -nies)

1. a Christian festival held on Jan 6, commemorating, in the Western Church, the manifestation of Christ to the Magi and, in the Eastern Church, the baptism of Christ