Appear
verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 To come or be in sight; to be in view; to become visible. intransitive
"And God[…]said, Let[…]the dry land appear."
- 2 come into sight or view wordnet
- 3 To come before the public. intransitive
"A great writer appeared at that time."
- 4 come into being or existence, or appear on the scene wordnet
- 5 To stand in presence of some authority, tribunal, or superior person, to answer a charge, plead a cause, etc.; to present oneself as a party or advocate before a court, or as a person to be tried. intransitive
"We must all appear before the judgment seat."
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 be issued or published wordnet
- 7 To become visible to the apprehension of the mind; to be known as a subject of observation or comprehension, or as a thing proved; to be obvious or manifest. intransitive
"It doth not yet appear what we shall be."
- 8 appear as a character on stage or appear in a play, etc. wordnet
- 9 To seem; to have a certain semblance; to look. copulative, intransitive
"He appeared quite happy with the result."
- 10 give a certain impression of being something or having a certain aspect wordnet
- 11 To bring into view transitive
"[Angelo] is yet a devil / His filth within being cast, he would appear / A pond as deep as hell."
- 12 (of a proposition) seem to be true, probable, or apparent wordnet
- 13 present oneself formally, as before a (judicial) authority wordnet
Example
More examples"There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread."
Etymology
From Middle English apperen, aperen, borrowed from Old French aparoir (French apparoir), from Latin appāreō (“I appear”), from ad (“to”) + pāreō (“I come forth, I become visible”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-s- (“watch, see”), s-present of *peh₂- (“protect”).
Related phrases
More for "appear"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.