Dictionary.com
definitions

apparition

[ ap-uh-rish-uhn ]
/ ˌæp əˈrɪʃ ən /
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR apparition ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a supernatural appearance of a person or thing, especially a ghost; a specter or phantom; wraith: a ghostly apparition at midnight.
anything that appears, especially something remarkable or startling: the surprising apparition of cowboys in New York City.
an act of appearing; manifestation.
Astronomy. the appearance or time when a comet, especially a periodic one, is visible: the 1986 apparition of Halley's comet.

RELATED CONTENT

What Does 👻 Ghost Emoji Mean?The ghost emoji depicts a cartoonish looking figure in white, shaped like a teardrop or bubble with arms and round black spots for eyes.
READ MORE
The Original Memes (Before Memes)The word meme, coined in 1976 by the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, goes way beyond social-media pixels. Meme captures the concept of “cultural transmission” of ideas in general, where customs and ideas spread from brain to brain.  Which means memes have been around longer than Success Kid or Kermit sipping tea. Wildfire ideas have been around as long as humans have—in fact, discovering fire is …
READ MORE

RELATED WORDS

phantom, visitant, revenant, delusion, haunt, bogeyman, specter, chimera, spirit, spook, hallucination, phantasm, illusion

Nearby words

  1. apparent temperature,
  2. apparent time,
  3. apparent wind,
  4. apparentement,
  5. apparently,
  6. apparitor,
  7. appassionato,
  8. appd.,
  9. appeal,
  10. appeal play

Origin of apparition

1400–50; late Middle English apparicio(u)n < Anglo-French, Old French < Late Latin appāritiōn- (stem of appāritiō, as calque of Greek epipháneia epiphany), equivalent to Latin appārit(us) (past participle of appārēre; see appear) + -iōn- -ion
Related formsap·pa·ri·tion·al, adjectivenon·ap·pa·ri·tion·al, adjective

Synonym study

1. 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 Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for apparition

British Dictionary definitions for apparition

apparition

/ (ˌæpəˈrɪʃən) /

noun

an appearance, esp of a ghost or ghostlike figure
the figure so appearing; phantom; spectre
the act of appearing or being visible

Word Origin for apparition

C15: from Late Latin appāritiō, from Latin: attendance, from appārēre to appear
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for apparition

apparition

n.

c.1500, "unclosing" (of Heaven), from Anglo-French aparicion, Old French apparition, aparoison (15c.), used in reference to the Epiphany (revealing of Christ child to the Wise Men), from Late Latin apparitionem (nominative apparitio) "an appearance," also "attendants," in classical Latin "service, servants," noun of action from past participle stem of apparere "appear" (see appear). Meaning "ghost" first recorded c.1600; the shade of sense differentiation between appearance and apparition is that the latter tends to be unexpected or startling.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper