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/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

Noun

apparition (plural apparitions)

1. An act of becoming visible; appearance; visibility.
   • 1855–1858, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, OCLC 645131689:

     the sudden apparition of the Spaniards

   • 1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), Edinburgh:  […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, OCLC 270129598:

     The apparition of Lawyer Clippurse occasioned much speculation in that portion of the world.

2. The thing appearing; a visible object; a form.
   • 1709 August 16, Isaac Bickerstaff (pseudonym for Richard Steele or (in some later numbers of the journal) Joseph Addison), The Tatler, number 55:

     […] which apparition, it seems, was you.

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

   The attic is haunted by the ghostly apparition of a young girl who died there.

   • 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene iii]:

     I think it is the weakness of mine eyes / That shapes this monstrous apparition.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book 10”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:

     The heavenly bands […] a glorious apparition.

   • 1982, Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything, page 24:

     The apparition wobbled in front of Arthur's eyes, though the truth of the matter is probably that Arthur's eyes were wobbling in front of the apparition.

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, beginning with the heliacal rising of the body and ending 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
• Swedish: framtoning (sv) c, uppträdande (sv) n, apparition (sv) c

thing appearing

• Belarusian: з'я́вішча n (zʺjávišča), з'я́ва (be) f (zʺjáva)
• Bulgarian: явле́ние (bg) n (javlénie)
• Dutch: verschijning (nl) f
• Finnish: ilmestys (fi)

• Italian: apparizione (it) f
• Maori: pōmariko, pōmārikoriko, mariko
• Polish: zjawisko (pl) n
• Portuguese: aparição (pt) f
• Russian: явле́ние (ru) n (javlénije)
• Ukrainian: я́вище (uk) n (jávyšče)

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)
• German: Erscheinung (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient: φάντασμα n (phántasma), φάσμα n (phásma)

• Hungarian: jelenés (hu)

• Italian: apparizione (it) f
• Latin: spectrum n
• Macedonian: привидение n (prividenie)
• 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 or f
• Serbo-Croatian: prikaza (sh) f
• Spanish: aparición (es) f
• Swedish: andesyn c, spökbild c
• 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

Etymology

From Latin appāritiō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.pa.ʁi.sjɔ̃/

• audio (une apparition)

  (file)

Noun

apparition f (plural apparitions)

1. appearance
2. ghost

   Synonym: fantôme

3. (baseball) plate appearance

   Synonyms: apparition au bâton, présence, présence au bâton

Derived terms

• faire son apparition

Further reading

• “apparition”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.