apparition - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ap·pa·ri·tion

Audio Help [ap-uh-rish-uh

n] Pronunciation Key

–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 appārére; 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 (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
apparition

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ap·pa·ri·tion Audio Help (āp'ə-rĭsh'ən) Pronunciation Key
n.

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

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

apparition
noun
1.	a ghostly appearing figure; "we were unprepared for the apparition that confronted us"
2.	the appearance of a ghostlike figure; "I was recalled to the present by the apparition of a frightening specter"
3.	something existing in perception only; "a ghostly apparition at midnight"
4.	an act of appearing or becoming visible unexpectedly; "natives were amazed at the apparition of this white stranger"