Etymology From Middle English epiphanie, from Old French epyphanie, from Late Latin epiphania, from Ancient Greek ἐπιφάνεια (epipháneia, “manifestation, striking appearance”), from ἐπιφαίνω (epiphaínō, “I appear, display”), from ἐπι- (epi-, “upon”) + φαίνω (phaínō, “I shine, appear”). English Epiphany (of Christ) since the 14th century, generic use since the 17th century.
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An illuminating realization or discovery, often resulting in a personal feeling of elation, awe, or wonder.
It came to her in an epiphany what her life's work was to be.
Instead of examining institutions and classes, structures of economic production and social control, one had to think about “moments”—moments of love, hate, poetry, frustration, action, surrender, delight, humiliation, justice, cruelty, resignation, surprise, disgust, resentment, self-loathing, pity, fury, peace of mind—those tiny epiphanies, Lefebvre said, in which the absolute possibilities and temporal limits of anyone's existence were revealed.1989, Greil Marcus, Lipstick Traces, Faber & Faber, published 2009:
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But after spending most of my pocket money to get those developed, I had an epiphany: I was never going to be a professional photographer. My pictures were god-awful. I put the camera away.2013, Chris Hadfield, chapter 11, in An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Pan Macmillan, →ISBN:
Between the gaps, I was swimming laps / Got close to some epiphany / I'll convince a friend to join deep ends / Have your toes touch the lack of cement2021, “Amoeba”, performed by Clairo:
The logic of the standard biography—a formative event leads to an epiphany that creates the great man—doesn’t quite work when the greatness doesn’t have much to do with the man at all.2023 May 9, Jay Caspian Kang, “Tony Hsieh and the Emptiness of the Tech-Mogul Myth”, in The New Yorker:
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A manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being.
The ithyphallic bird-man is the climactic, ecstatic, instantaneous male principle confronting the enormous, slow, bovine, and enduring principle of the eternal feminine in her epiphany as the bison.1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 129:
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Christianity Alternative letter-case form of Epiphany.
Christianity A manifestation of the divinity of Jesus Christ, especially to the Magi (Matthew 2:1–12), but also at his baptism and the Wedding at Cana.
That was also the reason why the Feast of the Epiphany, commemorating the three epiphanies of Christ's divinity, His Baptism, the Miracle of Cana, and the Visit of the Magi, was one of the most favorite feasts in the Eastern Church[…]1998, Maurice B. McNamee, Vested Angels: Eucharistic Allusions in Early Netherlandish Paintings, Peeters Publishers, →ISBN, page 167:
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Christianity An annual Christian feast celebrating these events, usually on January 6, the twelfth day after Christmas.
On the Festival of the Epiphany, and on the six Sundays called after its name, we have distinct pictures held up to our view connected with the life of Jesus of Nazareth[…]1878, Haskett Smith, The divine Epiphany, page 9:
That was also the reason why the Feast of the Epiphany, commemorating the three epiphanies of Christ's divinity, His Baptism, the Miracle of Cana, and the Visit of the Magi, was one of the most favorite feasts in the Eastern Church[…]1998, Maurice B. McNamee, Vested Angels: Eucharistic Allusions in Early Netherlandish Paintings, Peeters Publishers, →ISBN, page 167:
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The Epiphany, also known as the Feast of the Three Kings, Feast of Lights and Little Christmas, is known to have been observed earlier than 194 A.D.[…]2003 11, Rock DiLisio, Three Kings of Casablanca: The Trek to Treasure, iUniverse, →ISBN:
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Christianity The day of the celebration, January 6, or sometimes (in Western Christianity), the Sunday between January 2 and 8.
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Christianity The season or time of the Christian church year, either from the Epiphany feast day to Shrove Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent), or from the Epiphany feast day to the feast of Candlemas (marking the presentation of Jesus Christ in the Temple in Jerusalem).
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Christianity, Human sciences, Psychology, Sciences an experience of sudden and striking insight