apparition

UK: /ˌæpəˈrɪʃ^ən/ US: /ˌæpəˈrɪʃən/ ,(ap′ə rish′ən)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

ap•pa•ri•tion /ˌæpəˈrɪʃən/   n. [countable]

1. a ghostly appearance:
   thought she saw the apparition of her late husband.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

ap•pa•ri•tion  (ap′ə rish′ən), n. 

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

• 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
• Anglo-French, Old French
• late Middle English apparicio(u)n 1400–50

ap′pa•ri′tion•al, adj. 
Synonyms

• 1. spirit, shade.
  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.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

apparition / ˌæpəˈrɪʃən/ noun

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

Etymology: 15th Century: from Late Latin appāritiō, from Latin: attendance, from appārēre to appear