Adjacent Words

Apparition definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

APPARI'TION, n. [See Appear.]
1. In a general sense, an appearance; visibility. [Little used.]
2. The thing appearing; a visible object; a form.
3. A ghost; a specter; a visible spirit. [This is now the usual sense of the word.]
4. Mere appearance, opposed to reality.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a ghostly appearing figure; "we were unprepared for the apparition that confronted us" [syn: apparition, phantom, phantasm, phantasma, fantasm, specter, spectre]
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" [syn: apparition, phantom, phantasm, phantasma, fantasm, shadow]
4: an act of appearing or becoming visible unexpectedly; "natives were amazed at the apparition of this white stranger"

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English apparicioun, from Anglo-French aparicion, from Late Latin apparition-, apparitio appearance, from Latin appar?re Date: 15th century 1. a. an unusual or unexpected sight ; phenomenon b. a ghostly figure 2. the act of becoming visible ; appearance • apparitional adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. a sudden or dramatic appearance, esp. of a ghost or phantom; a visible ghost. Etymology: ME f. F apparition or f. L apparitio attendance (as APPEAR)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Apparition Ap`pa*ri"tion, n. [F. apparition, L. apparitio, fr. apparere. See Appear.] 1. The act of becoming visible; appearance; visibility. --Milton. The sudden apparition of the Spaniards. --Prescott. The apparition of Lawyer Clippurse occasioned much speculation in that portion of the world. --Sir W. Scott. 2. The thing appearing; a visible object; a form. Which apparition, it seems, was you. --Tatler. 3. An unexpected, wonderful, or preternatural appearance; a ghost; a specter; a phantom. ``The heavenly bands . . . a glorious apparition.'' --Milton. I think it is the weakness of mine eyes That shapes this monstrous apparition. --Shak. 4. (Astron.) The first appearance of a star or other luminary after having been invisible or obscured; -- opposed to occultation. Circle of perpetual apparition. See under Circle.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(apparitions) An apparition is someone you see or think you see but who is not really there as a physical being. (FORMAL) N-COUNT

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ap-a-rish'-un (indalma, epiphaneia; phantasma): This word is not found in the Old Testament or New Testament canon, the King James Version or the American Standard Revised Version, but occurs twice in the Revised Version (British and American) and thrice in Apocrypha the King James Version as follows: The Wisdom of Solomon 17:3, Greek indalma, the Revised Version (British and American) "spectral form"; 2 Macc 3:24, Greek epiphaneia, the Revised Version (British and American) "apparition," the Revised Version, margin "manifestation"; 2 Macc 5:4, Greek epiphaneia, the Revised Version (British and American) "vision," the Revised Version, margin "manifestation." New Testament, Revised Version: Mt 14:26; Mr 6:49; Greek phantasma, the American Standard Revised Version "ghost," the King James Version "Spirit."

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Appearing, appearance, manifestation, coming to view, epiphany. 2. Form, being, thing appearing. 3. Ghost, spectre, phantom, phantasm, spirit, sprite, hobgoblin, shade, chimera, illusion, vision, preternatural appearance. See wraith.

Moby Thesaurus

Masan, appearance, appearing, arising, astral, astral spirit, avatar, banshee, bogey, brainchild, bubble, chimera, coming, coming into being, coming-forth, control, corposant, delirium, delusion, departed spirit, disclosure, disembodied spirit, duppy, dybbuk, eidolon, emergence, epiphany, exposure, false image, fancy, fantasque, fantasy, fiction, figment, figure, form, forthcoming, ghost, grateful dead, guide, hallucination, hant, haunt, idle fancy, idolum, illusion, image, imagery, imagination, imagining, immateriality, incarnation, incorporeal, incorporeal being, incorporeity, insubstantial image, invention, issuance, larva, lemures, maggot, make-believe, manes, manifestation, marshfire, materialization, materializing, mirage, myth, occurrence, oni, opening, phantasm, phantasma, phantasmagoria, phantom, phasm, phenomenon, poltergeist, presence, presentation, realization, revelation, revenant, rise, rising, romance, shade, shadow, shape, showing, showing forth, shrouded spirit, sick fancy, specter, spectral ghost, spectrum, spirit, spook, sprite, theophany, thick-coming fancies, trip, umbra, unfolding, unfoldment, unsubstantiality, vapor, vision, waking dream, walking dead man, wandering soul, whim, whimsy, wildest dream, wildest dreams, wraith, zombie