Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A ghostly figure; a specter.
- n. A sudden or unusual sight: "[The designer's] indoor-outdoor reversals and juxtapositions call forth a Magritte apparition beneath a Miami moon” ( Herbert Muschamp).
- n. The act of appearing; appearance.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The act of appearing or coming into sight; appearance; the state of being visible; visibility.
- n. That which appears or becomes visible; an appearance, especially of a remarkable or phenomenal kind.
- n. Specifically A ghostly appearance; a specter or phantom: now the usual sense of the word.
- n. In astronomy, the first appearance of a star or other luminary after having been obscured: opposed to occultation.
- To cause to to appear in phantom form.
Wiktionary
- n. An act of becoming visible; appearance; visibility.
- n. The thing appearing; a visible object; a form.
- n. An unexpected, wonderful, or preternatural appearance; especially something such as a ghost or phantom.
- n. The first appearance of a star or other luminary after having been invisible or obscured;—opposed to occultation.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The act of becoming visible; appearance; visibility.
- n. The thing appearing; a visible object; a form.
- n. An unexpected, wonderful, or preternatural appearance; a ghost; a specter; a phantom.
- n. The first appearance of a star or other luminary after having been invisible or obscured; -- opposed to
occultation .
WordNet 3.0
- n. a ghostly appearing figure
- n. something existing in perception only
- n. an act of appearing or becoming visible unexpectedly
- n. the appearance of a ghostlike figure
Etymologies
- 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.
Examples
“At other moments in the narrative, the haunting of the apparition is achieved solely through the powers of the voice — en route to the Villa Altieri, for example, a voice entirely lacking in any visually identifiable origin emanates as if from nowhere, at once betraying the uncanny presence of Vivaldi's ghostly companion as well as maintaining his invisibility:”
“These aren't pluralizations, which should be obvious from the examples. (e.g. the plural of apparition is apparitions.)”
“The visual aspect is not all of it—hence the misleading term apparition.”
“This strange apparition is no sooner left behind than two or three more, some smaller, some larger, come into sight; and so on all the way to Cairo.”
“And another thing troubles me -- the apparition is English.”
“I used the word apparition because of the ghost-like visage that such a reflection creates.”
Superhero Nation: how to write superhero novels and comic books » Frank Murdock’s Review Forum
“It turns out she's read "The Anatomy of Ghosts," a tract Holdsworth wrote to debunk the claims of spiritualism, and she hopes he can convince her anxious son that the apparition was a delusion.”
The Washington Post: Andrew Taylor's 'Anatomy of Ghosts': Strange sightings in 18th-century England
“The vision of a tall-masted ship, at sail on the ocean, came to Deeti on an otherwise ordinary day, but she knew instantly that the apparition was a sign of destiny, for she had never seen such a vessel before, not even in a dream: how could she have, living as she did in northern Bihar, four hundred miles from the coast?”
“Chapter One The vision of a tall-masted ship, at sail on the ocean, came to Deeti on an otherwise ordinary day, but she knew instantly that the apparition was a sign of destiny, for she had never seen such a vessel before, not even in a dream: how could she have, living as she did in northern Bihar, four hundred miles from the coast?”
“The vision of a tall-masted ship, at sail on the ocean, came to Deeti on an otherwise ordinary day, but she knew instantly that the apparition was a sign of destiny …”
The Wall Street Journal: Pirates, Opium and Servitude: Retracing India's Past
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘apparition’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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ghost
This is Ghost List 2 ( the kind that go 'boo!' ) :P
phantom, spectral, specter, spectre, spooky, poltergeist, haunt, spirit, banshee, cryptic, shadow, phantasm and 294 more...
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Words with a P in them
opalescent, apposite, kelp, culprit, corporeal, copper, impinge, impose, impetus, impassible, oppress, maple and 40 more...
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::: Poetic :::
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