# phenomenology

/fəˈnɑməˌnɑɫɑˌɡi/ (US) · /fɪnˌɒmɪnˈɒlədʒi/ (UK) · CEFR C1 · Noun

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/phenomenology
Updated: 2026-05-30

## Definition

the study of how people experience and understand the world around them. It looks at things like how we feel, see, and think about our daily lives.

For teachers: the branch of philosophy concerned with the structures of experience and consciousness. It focuses on the first-person perspective of subjective experience rather than objective reality.

## Examples

- The researcher used phenomenology to study how patients feel about their treatment.
- In her thesis, she applied phenomenology to explore how urban residents perceive the changing architecture of their city.
- While empirical science seeks to measure external variables, phenomenology insists on the primacy of the lived body and the qualitative depth of human intentionality.

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