theophany (thee-OF-uh-nee) noun

   An appearance of a god to a person.

[Medieval Latin theophania, from Late Greek theophaneia, Greek theo-, +
-phaneia, to show.]

   "Any mundane reality could yield a theophany, if approached with reverent
   imagination: a place, a rock, a tree, a man or a woman."
   Karen Armstrong, Divinity and Gender: a God for both sexes,
   The Economist (London), Dec 21, 1996.

This week's theme: uncommon words with common suffixes.

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Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great
teacher. -Japanese proverb

Monday, Apr 2, 2001, our seventh online guest will be Lisa Simeone,
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Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/theophany.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/theophany.ram