• phenomenon: often res: to enquire respecting (the cause of) a p., de re (ipsa) quaerere, Sen. N. Q. 1, 1, 2: the cause of this p., hujus rei causa, ib. 1, 3, 3. Or no subs. may be needed: let us enquire into this p., quaeramus quomodo fiat (sc. arcus coelestis), ib. § 3: cf. § 5, quidam ita existimant arcum fieri. An extraordinary p., miraculum: he ascended a place from which the best view of the p. could be obtained, locum ascendit ex quo maxime miraculum illud conspici posset, Plin. 6, 16, 5: also, res insolita, nova, mirabilis (v. strange, extraordinary): cf. also Juv. 6, 165, rara avis in terris (a perfect p.!): sometimes spectaculum may serve: cf. Sen. N. Q. 1, 1, 5, nulla sine hujusmodi spectaculis nox est, no night on which such phenomena are not to be seen. (In philos. sense, phaenomena [Gk. τά φαινόμενα] may be needed for precision, with gen. pl. phaenomenôn; or the word may be written as Greek.)