apparition

English

Etymology

From Middle French apparition, from Latin apparitio, from appareo.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌæp.əɹˈɪʃn̩/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌæp.ɚˈɪʃ.n̩/, /ˌæp.ɚˈɪ.ʃən/

Noun

apparition (plural apparitions)

1. An act of becoming visible; appearance; visibility.

   The sudden apparition of the Spaniards. – William H. Prescott.

   The apparition of Lawyer Clippurse occasioned much speculation in that portion of the world. – Sir W. Scott.

2. The thing appearing; a visible object; a form.

   Which apparition, it seems, was you. – Tatler.

3. An unexpected, wonderful, or preternatural appearance; especially something such as a ghost or phantom.

   The attic is haunted by a ghostly apparition of a deceased young girl.

   The heavenly bands . . . a glorious apparition. – John Milton.

   I think it is the weakness of mine eyes That shapes this monstrous apparition. – William Shakespeare

4. (astronomy) The first appearance of a star or other luminary after having been invisible or obscured;—opposed to occultation.
5. (astronomy) A period of consecutive days or nights when a particular celestial body may be observed. An apparition begins with the heliacal rising of the body and ends with its heliacal setting.

Synonyms

• (act of becoming visible): appearance
• (a preternatural appearance): vision
• See also Thesaurus:ghost

Related terms

• apparent
• appearance

Translations

act of becoming visible

• Bulgarian: появяване (pojavjavane)
• Dutch: verschijning (nl) f
• Finnish: ilmestyminen (fi), ilmaantuminen (fi)
• French: apparition (fr) f
• Italian: apparizione (it) f

• Portuguese: aparição (pt) f, aparecimento (pt) m
• Romanian: apariție (ro) f, ivire (ro) f
• Russian: появле́ние (ru) n (pojavlénije)
• Spanish: aparición (es) f

thing appearing

• Dutch: verschijning (nl) f
• Finnish: ilmestys (fi)
• Italian: apparizione (it) f

• Maori: pōmariko, pōmārikoriko, mariko
• Portuguese: aparição (pt) f
• Russian: явле́ние (ru) n (javlénije)

unexpected, wonderful, or preternatural appearance

• Bulgarian: привидение (bg) n (prividenie), видение (bg) n (videnie)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 幽靈 (zh), 幽灵 (zh) (yōulíng), 鬼魂 (zh) (guǐhún)

• Dutch: verschijning (nl) f
• Finnish: ilmestys (fi)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: φάντασμα n (phántasma)

• Hungarian: jelenés (hu)
• Italian: apparizione (it) f

• Maori: mariko, pōmārikoriko, pōmariko
• Portuguese: aparição (pt) f
• Russian: привиде́ние (ru) n (prividénije), при́зрак (ru) m (prízrak)
• Scottish Gaelic: sgàile f, tannasg m, taibhse m, f
• Serbo-Croatian: prikaza (sh) f
• Spanish: aparición (es) f
• Tagalog: bibit

astronomy: the first appearance of a luminary after having been invisible or obscured

• Bulgarian: видимост (bg) (vidimost)
• Finnish: ilmestyminen (fi)

• Italian: apparizione (it) f
• Portuguese: aparição (pt) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} priviđenje (sh) n, ^{(please verify)} pričina (sh) f

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.pa.ʁi.sjɔ̃/

• audio (une apparition)

  (file)

Noun

apparition f (plural apparitions)

1. appearance
2. ghost
3. (baseball) plate appearance

Synonyms

• (ghost): fantôme
• (plate appearance): apparition au bâton, présence, présence au bâton

Further reading

• “apparition” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).