Word Of The Week : Epiphany

Epiphany - noun

The prospect of bloviating Boris consulting his conscience in a bid to understand himself is, of course, entirely unimaginable. As such, our reckless roué runs no risk of concluding that he is an utter cad. As such, we are unlikely to see our notorious ex-PM name his next newly-born daughter ‘Epiphany’ in celebratory remembrance of this profoundly perspicacious moment of illuminating insight.

The word Epiphany has bifurcated roots. Its Biblical heritage denotes the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi (Mathew 2:1-12), and is a noun referring to the festival and holiday commemorating the Epiphany on January 6th. From this literal meaning, we have the general naming of a revelatory appearance of a divine Being.

Epiphany’s Classical Greek roots from epipháneia, originally meant the manifestation of an enemy at dawn, developing its lexicographical reach in the Bible to emphasise the sudden appearance of a deity to a worshipper.

In our modern vernacular, Epiphany has lost its ecclesiastical specificity, becoming a noun loosely echoing its Greek roots, denoting the unexpected comprehension of the essential nature, or meaning of something. Ergo, ‘epiphany’ names the sudden, intuitive grasp of a truth such as to provoke a revelatory discovery, realisation, or disclosure.

Boris’s hypothetical epiphany ut supra, is of course a revelatory scene, neither he, nor the Great British public, are ever likely to witness!