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apparition

 - 3 dictionary results

ap⋅pa⋅ri⋅tion

  [ap-uh-rish-uhn]
Use apparition in a Sentence
–noun
1. a supernatural appearance of a person or thing, esp. a ghost; a specter or phantom; wraith: a ghostly apparition at midnight.
2. anything that appears, esp. something remarkable or startling: the surprising apparition of cowboys in New York City.
3. an act of appearing; manifestation.
4. Astronomy. the appearance or time when a comet, esp. a periodic one, is visible: the 1986 apparition of Halley's comet.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME apparicio(u)n < AF, OF < LL appāritiōn- (s. of appāritiō, as calque of Gk epipháneia epiphany ), equiv. to L appārit(us) (ptp. of appārēre; see appear ) + -iōn- -ion

Related forms:
ap⋅pa⋅ri⋅tion⋅al, adjective

Synonyms:
1. spirit, shade. Apparition, phantasm, phantom are terms for a supernatural appearance. An apparition of a person or thing is an immaterial appearance that seems real, and is generally sudden or startling in its manifestation: an apparition of a headless horseman. Both phantom and phantasm denote an illusory appearance, as in a dream; the former may be pleasant, while the latter is usually frightening: a phantom of loveliness; a monstrous phantasm.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To apparition
ap·pa·ri·tion   (āp'ə-rĭsh'ən)   
n.  

  1. A ghostly figure; a specter.

  2. A sudden or unusual sight: "[The designer's] indoor-outdoor reversals and juxtapositions call forth a Magritte apparition beneath a Miami moon" (Herbert Muschamp).

  3. The act of appearing; appearance.


[Middle English apparicioun, from Old French apparition, from Late Latin appāritiō, appāritiōn-, an appearance, from Latin appāritus, past participle of appārēre, to appear; see appear.]
ap'pa·ri'tion·al adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

apparition 
c.1525, from Anglo-Fr. aparicion, from O.Fr. apparition, used in reference to the Epiphany (revealing of Christ child to the Wise Men), from L.L. apparitionem (nom. apparitio) "an appearance," also "attendants," in classical L. "service, servants," from pp. stem of apparere "appear" (see appear). Meaning "ghost" first recorded 1601.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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