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.
   • 1856-1858, William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip II

     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.
   • August 16, 1709, Isaac Bickerstaff (pseudonym for Richard Steele or (in some later numbers of the journal) Joseph Addison), The Tatler No. 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: Published According to the True Originall Copies (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.

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
3. (baseball) plate appearance

Synonyms

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

Derived terms

• faire son apparition

Further reading

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