Fortean

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to unexplained phenomena and paranormal events, especially those documented by researcher Charles Fort
2. Focusing on phenomena that elude rational explanation, particularly those chronicled by a specific researcher, is what defines a certain area of study
3. Pertaining to unusual occurrences and phenomena that challenge scientific understanding, particularly those investigated by a notable researcher in the field

Etymology: Charles Hoy Fort (1874–1932) was an American writer who spent years in the reading rooms of libraries collecting newspaper and journal reports of strange events: falls of frogs, unexplained lights, objects that vanished. His 1919 book The Book of the Damned gathered them to argue that science routinely discarded inconvenient data. The adjective came from a critic. In 1920, the American journalist Ben Hecht reviewed the book in the Chicago Daily News, and his reference to the author's name gave the word its form. The formation is simple: "Fort" plus the suffix "-ean," which turns a name into an adjective meaning "relating to" that person, as in "Shakespearean" or "Darwinian." Hecht needed no special coinage; he simply attached the suffix to Fort's surname, so the term describes anything in the spirit of Fort's collecting, not only the events he wrote about.