sem·blance

[sem-bluhns]
noun
1.
outward aspect or appearance.
2.
an assumed or unreal appearance; show.
3.
the slightest appearance or trace.
4.
a likeness, image, or copy.
5.
a spectral appearance; apparition.

Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English < Middle French, equivalent to sembl(er) to seem (see resemble) + -ance -ance


1. aspect, exterior, mien, air. 2. seeming.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To semblance
00:10
Semblance is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
Collins
World English Dictionary
semblance (ˈsɛmbləns) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  outward appearance, esp without any inner substance or reality
2.  a resemblance or copy
 
[C13: from Old French, from sembler to seem, from Latin simulāre to imitate, from similis like]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

semblance
c.1300, "fact of appearing to view," from O.Fr. semblance, semblant "likeness, appearance," from sembler "to seem, appear," from L. simulare "to resemble, imitate," from similis "like" (see similar). Meaning "person's appearance or demeanor" is attested from c.1400; that
of "false, assumed or deceiving appearance" is from 1599. Meaning "person or thing that resembles another" is attested from 1513.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
Merit pay is dream without details, facts or any semblance or reality.
It is fine to imagine a complex system, constructed by an engineer, that could
  achieve some semblance of metabolism.
The reading students are required to do for school bears little semblance to
  the reading they do outside of school.
Because they know that these people will never bother to read a book, or
  attempt to operate with a semblance of objectivity.
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