apparition

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English apparicioun,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman aparicion, also Old French apparition,^[5][6][7][3] from Late Latin appāritiō (“an appearance; epiphany”),^[3][4][6][7] from appāritus, the past participle of appāreō (“to appear; to serve, attend”).^[3][4][8] Classical Latin had only the sense "attendance, service, servants", the OED notes, from the use of the verb for appearing at a summons and waiting on someone.^[9][5][6] Dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster take the Late Latin sense as a calque of Ancient Greek ἐπιφάνεια (epipháneia, “epiphany”).^[7][4] The OED, whose entry is not fully revised, gives French as the immediate source and has no record before 1481,^[9] and the Shorter Oxford allows either French or Latin.^[10] Barnhart observes that the Old French word, used of the Epiphany and of making oneself visible, does not quite fit the chain of meaning.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

An appearance, especially of something strange: probably before 1425, in a translation of Higden's Polychronicon.^[5] Etymonline likewise dates it to the early 15th century, as a supernatural appearance or manifestation.^[6] The MED has it from about 1440 for the appearance made to Our Lady,^[2] and the OED's earliest quotation is from Caxton, 1481, for something that appears, especially something remarkable.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the word referred to the Epiphany,^[6][5] a use the OED records in English only from 1652 to 1701.^[9] In English it was at first a general word for an appearance, and it developed in parallel with appearance, which is etymologically the same formation; the OED notes that it now means almost only a ghost, and that its other senses have picked up from this an idea of something startling or unexpected.^[9][6] The OED dates the ghost sense to Shakespeare's Julius Caesar,^[9][5] though Barnhart points out Thomas More's "The aparicion of a very ghost" about 1525,^[5] and the OED has More's use for the appearance of supernatural beings from before 1535.^[9] Johnson (1755) gives "appearance; visibility", "the thing appearing" and "a spectre; a walking spirit".^[11] In astronomy it has meant the appearance of a star or comet after being hidden since 1556.^[9][10] Older senses of semblance, outward form, and a sham or illusion died out in the 17th century.^[9] A verb formed from the noun is recorded in 1876.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1425 – an appearance, especially of something strange.^[5]
• 1481 – something that appears, especially something remarkable.^[9]
• c. 1525 – a ghost or phantom, in Thomas More's "The aparicion of a very ghost".^[5] The OED's first quotation for this sense is from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (before 1616), Barnhart dates that use to 1601, and Etymonline dates the sense to about 1600.^[9][5][6]
• 1533 – manifestation, display (obsolete by 1627).^[9]
• 1556 – in astronomy, the first appearance of a star or other body after being hidden.^[9][10]
• 1610 – a deceptive appearance, a sham (obsolete by 1679).^[9]
• 1652 – the arrival or appearance of a visitor; also the Epiphany (obsolete by 1701).^[9]
• 1826 – transferred and figurative use of the ghost sense.^[9]
• 1876 – verb, formed from the noun.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ghost or ghostlike figure; a supernatural appearance: The apparition drifted across the moonlit hall.^[12][4][9]
2. Someone or something unusual or unexpected that appears; a phenomenon.^[4][9]
3. The act of appearing or becoming visible, especially when it is unexpected.^[12][4][9]
4. In astronomy, the appearance of a comet or other body after a period of invisibility; the period when it is visible.^[9][10]
5. (obsolete, 1652–1701) The Epiphany or its festival.^[9][10]
6. (obsolete, 1613–1667) Semblance, outward appearance.^[9][10]

Word family

• apparitional

Related words

• apparent
• appearance
• appear
• apparitor
• epiphany

Usage notes

Dictionary.com distinguishes it from phantom and phantasm: an apparition seems real and appears suddenly or startlingly, while the other two are illusory, as in a dream.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins