appear
//əˈpɪə//
Forms
- present (v1)
- appear
- past (v2)
- appeared
- past participle (v3)
- appeared
- present participle
- appearing
- 3rd person singular
- appears
Definitions
1.To come or be in sight; to be in view; to become visible.
- And God[…]said, Let[…]the dry land appear.
- There were also particles no one had predicted that just appeared. Five of them […, i]n order of increasing modernity, […] are the neutrino, the pi meson, the antiproton, the quark and the Higgs boson.
2.To come before the public.
- A great writer appeared at that time.
3.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.
- We must all appear before the judgment seat.
- One ruffian escaped because no prosecutor dared to appear.
4.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.
- Of their vain contest appeared no end.
Frequency
Overall
Very common· #437
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Uncommon
- General reading & writing
- Very common
- Academic
- Common
- Literature
- Uncommon
Related words
Etymology
From Middle English apperen, aperen, borrowed from Old French aparoir (French apparoir)
From Latin appāreō (“to appear”)
From ad (“to”) + pāreō (“to come forth, to become visible”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-s- (“watch, see”), s-present of *peh₂- (“protect”).