revelation

 
Pronunciation: /rɛvəˈleɪʃ(ə)n/

noun

  • 1a surprising and previously unknown fact that has been disclosed to others: revelations about his personal life
  • [mass noun] the making known of something that was previously secret or unknown: the revelation of a plot to assassinate the king
  • used to emphasize the remarkable quality of someone or something: seeing them play at international level was a revelation
  • 2 [mass noun] the divine or supernatural disclosure to humans of something relating to human existence: an attempt to reconcile Darwinian theories with biblical revelation [count noun]: a divine revelation
  • (Revelation or Revelations; in full the Revelation of St John the Divine) the last book of the New Testament, recounting a divine revelation of the future to St John.

Derivatives

revelational

adjective

Origin:

Middle English (in the theological sense): from Old French, or from late Latin revelatio(n-), from revelare 'lay bare' (see reveal1). Sense 1 dates from the mid 19th century