Main Entry: phe·nom·e·nol·o·gy

Pronunciation: \fi-ˌnä-mə-ˈnä-lə-jē\

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural phe·nom·e·nol·o·gies

Etymology: German Phänomenologie, from Phänomenon phenomenon + -logie -logy

Date: circa 1797

1 : the study of the development of human consciousness and self-awareness as a preface to or a part of philosophy
2 a (1) : a philosophical movement that describes the formal structure of the objects of awareness and of awareness itself in abstraction from any claims concerning existence (2) : the typological classification of a class of phenomena <the phenomenology of religion> b : an analysis produced by phenomenological investigation

— phe·nom·e·nol·o·gist \-jist\ noun