Epiphany

Epiphany (pronounced with stress on the second vowel, which is the short '-i-' of is and in 'er PIFF er ny IPA: /ə ˈpɪf ə nɪ/) may be a proper noun or a common noun. The basic meaning is 'manifestation'.

• The proper noun [the] Epiphany is the name of the commemoration of the visit to the infant Jesus of the three Magi. This is ezplained as 'the manifestation [showing] of Jesus Christ to the gentiles', and is celebrated on 6th January, which is also known as Twelfth Night. This marks the end of the 'Twelve Days of Christmas', and therefore of the Christmas season. (In Orthodox churches, Epiphany is held to celebrate the baptisn of Jesus by John the Baptist, but although this event wasyears later than the arrival of the Magi, it is still on 6th January. (Eastern Churches which still follow the Julian calendar celebrate Epiphany on 19th January in the Gregorian Calendar.)
• As a common noun epiphany is essentially an extension of the proper noun.
  • Within Christianity there are

Etymological note: epiphany is derived, through Latin, from late Greek ἐπιφάνια 'manifestation', from the prefix ἐπι- and the verb φάνειν, 'to show [to]'. There are other words sharing the element 'φάνια' such as theophany, meaning 'an appearance of [a] god to humans', which is better reserved for discussion of pagan, polytheistic, religions; and bethphany, from the Hebrew beth 'house', an obsolete term for the manifestation of Jesus's divine powers in his first miracle, when he transformed water into wine for the wedding feast at Cana (John, ch. 2, vv 1-11)', and phagiphany for his manifestation in the miracle of the Feeding of the Five Thousand (phagi is from the Greek φαγειν 'to eat', which also gives English the suffix '-phagous').