appear

UK: /əˈpɪə^r/ US: /əˈpɪr/ ,(ə pēr′)

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

ap•pear /əˈpɪr/   v. [no object]

1. [not: be + ~-ing] to come into sight;
   become visible:
   A man suddenly appeared in the doorway.
2. to have the appearance of being;
   seem: [~ + adjective]
   [not: be + ~-ing] to appear wise.
   [~ + to + verb]
   She appears to be sleeping.
3. to be obvious or easily known and understood: [It + ~ + (that) clause]
   [not: be + ~-ing] It appears that you are right.
4. to perform:
   She appeared in several movies.
5. to put in an appearance;
   show up;
   arrive:
   She appeared briefly at the party.
6. Law to come before a tribunal, esp. as a party or counsel to a proceeding:
   You'll appear before the court tomorrow.
7. to come to be available for use;
   come out:
   [not: be + ~-ing] Your new book will appear next year.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

ap•pear  (ə pēr′), v.i. 

1. to come into sight;
   become visible:
   A man suddenly appeared in the doorway.
2. to have the appearance of being;
   seem;
   look:
   to appear wise.
3. to be obvious or easily perceived;
   be clear or made clear by evidence:
   It appears to me that you are right.
4. to come or be placed before the public;
   be published:
   Her biography appeared last year.
5. to perform publicly, as in a play, dance, etc.:
   He appeared as the king in the play.
6. to attend or be present, esp. to arrive late or stay but a short time:
   He appeared at the party but left quickly.
7. to come into being;
   be created, invented, or developed:
   Speech appears in the child's first or second year.
8. Lawmaking to come formally, esp. as a party or counsel, to a proceeding before a tribunal, authority, etc.

• Latin appārēre be seen, appear, equivalent. to ap- ap¹ + pārēre be visible
• Anglo-French, Old French aper-, tonic stem of apare(i)r, apparoir
• Middle English ap(p)eren 1250–1300

Synonyms

• 1. emerge, arise.
• 2. See seem. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

appear / əˈpɪə/ verb (intransitive)

1. to come into sight or view
2. (copula; may take an infinitive) to seem or look: the evidence appears to support you
3. to be plain or clear, as after further evidence, etc: it appears you were correct after all
4. to develop or come into being; occur: faults appeared during testing
5. to become publicly available; be published: his biography appeared last month
6. to be present in court before a magistrate or judge: he appeared on two charges of theft

Etymology: 13th Century: from Old French aparoir, from Latin appārēre to become visible, attend upon, from pārēre to appear