Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

noumenon

American  
[noo-muh-non] / ˈnu məˌnɒn /

noun

plural

noumena
  1. the object, itself inaccessible to experience, to which a phenomenon is referred for the basis or cause of its sense content.

  2. a thing in itself, as distinguished from a phenomenon or thing as it appears.

  3. Kantianism. something that can be the object only of a purely intellectual, nonsensuous intuition.


noumenon British  
/ ˈnuːmɪnən, ˈnaʊ- /

noun

  1. (in the philosophy of Kant) a thing as it is in itself, not perceived or interpreted, incapable of being known, but only inferred from the nature of experience Compare phenomenon See also thing-in-itself

  2. the object of a purely intellectual intuition

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • noumenal adjective
  • noumenalism noun
  • noumenalist noun
  • noumenality noun
  • noumenally adverb

Etymology

Origin of noumenon

1790–1800; < Greek nooúmenon a thing being perceived, noun use of neuter of present participle passive of noeîn to perceive; akin to nous

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Glassley tries also to grasp something beyond: the noumenon, an ineffable inner reality in things that cannot be discerned by the senses.

From Nature • Feb. 5, 2018

By Ontology we may designate the standing controversies of the intellectual powers—perception, innate ideas, nominalism versus realism, and noumenon versus phenomenon.

From Practical Essays by Bain, Alexander

Faith cure is dependence upon the human mind itself, upon the noumenon, instead of the phenomenon.

From Carmen Ariza by Stocking, Charles Francis

But don't you think, Ont," Upt replied, "that you are confusing the noumenon with the phenomenon?

From The Unthinking Destroyer by Terry, W. E.

Kant left nothing of the material world but an indescribable noumenon, which did not even exist in space.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 379, May, 1847 by Various