epiphany

Pluralepiphanies, Epiphanies

1. 1
   sudden understandingnouncountable

   A sudden, illuminating realization or discovery, often bringing a feeling of elation, awe, or wonder.

   Standing in the rain at the bus stop, he had an epiphany: he hated his job and always had.

   The novel builds toward a quiet epiphany in which the daughter finally sees her father clearly.

   Similarenlightenment

   Note

   Behind it is Greek epipháneia, a manifestation or striking appearance, built on phaínō, "I shine, appear": in the divine sense a god appears, and here an idea does. The usual verb is have, and the thing suddenly seen often follows a colon, as in Chris Hadfield's "I had an epiphany: I was never going to be a professional photographer."

2. 2
   Christian holidaynoun · Epiphanycountable or uncountable

   A yearly Christian feast, and the day it falls on, celebrating the revealing of Christ's divinity, usually held on January 6, the twelfth day after Christmas.

   In Spain, many children receive their presents on Epiphany rather than on Christmas Day.

   The parish marks the Feast of the Epiphany with a procession of the three kings.

   SimilarTheophany

   Note

   The feast goes by many names: Three Kings' Day, Twelfth Day, Little Christmas, the Feast of Lights. Western churches tie it chiefly to the Magi and sometimes move it to the Sunday between January 2 and 8; Eastern churches, which often call it Theophany, center it on Christ's baptism instead. It takes a capital, with or without the: on Epiphany, the Feast of the Epiphany.

3. 3
   Christ shown divinenoun · Epiphanycountable or uncountable

   The revealing of Jesus Christ's divinity, above all to the Magi, but also at his baptism and at the wedding at Cana.

   Medieval artists pictured the Epiphany as three kings presenting gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

   Early writers counted three Epiphanies: to the Magi, at the Jordan, and at Cana.

   Note

   The singular Epiphany, with its capital and article, points first to the Magi; the plural gathers all three scenes, as when Maurice McNamee lists "the three epiphanies of Christ's divinity, His Baptism, the Miracle of Cana, and the Visit of the Magi", which the January feast remembers together.

4. 4
   god appearingnouncountable

   The appearance or manifestation of a god or other divine or superhuman being.

   Greek myth is full of divine epiphanies, as when a god meets a hero in the shape of an old man.

   The poet imagines the sea goddess in her epiphany as a great white wave.

   Similartheophany

   Note

   The construction worth knowing is a possessive plus as, which names the shape the divine being takes: William Irwin Thompson writes of the eternal feminine "in her epiphany as the bison". It belongs to writing on myth and religion, where theophany is its close synonym.

5. 5
   church seasonnoun · Epiphanycountable or uncountable

   The season of the Christian year running from the feast of the Epiphany to Shrove Tuesday, just before Lent, or to Candlemas, the feast of Christ's presentation in the Temple.

   Throughout Epiphany, the Sunday readings follow the early ministry of Jesus.

   The church leaves its nativity scene in place until Candlemas brings Epiphany to a close.

   Note

   Its length depends on the church. Where the season closes at Candlemas, it always ends on a fixed feast; where it runs to the eve of Lent, it stretches or shrinks from year to year, because Shrove Tuesday moves with Easter. As a season it is usually named without an article: throughout Epiphany, the end of Epiphany.

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