appear

verb

ap·​pear ə-ˈpir How to pronounce appear (audio)
appeared; appearing; appears

intransitive verb

1
a
: to be or come in sight
when the sun appears on the horizon
b
: to show up
He appears promptly at eight each day.
2
: to come formally before an authoritative body
must appear in court today
3
: to have an outward aspect : seem
She appears (to be) happy enough.
4
: to become evident or manifest
There appears to be evidence to the contrary.
5
: to come into public view
a performer who first appeared on a television variety show
The book appeared in print a few years ago.
6
: to come into existence
Hominids appeared late in the evolutionary chain.

Examples of appear in a Sentence

She appears a nice enough person. Winning the election appears unlikely at this point. One by one, the stars appeared in the sky. The sun began to appear from behind the clouds. The airplanes seemed to appear out of nowhere. The storm disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. The cat appears at our kitchen door every morning. One of the guests appeared a few minutes late. He appeared a little before eight last night.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Photograph: Marli Miller/UCG; Getty Images This story originally appeared on Vox and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Li Zhou, WIRED, 23 Nov. 2024 The hairless baboons that appear in a smaller arena earlier in Gladiator II are a fictional invention, continues Bartsch. Jack Smart, People.com, 23 Nov. 2024 Members of the first team squad appear back at the training facilities in drips and drabs, some nursing jet lag from globetrotting flights around the world. Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes, 23 Nov. 2024 While many locals appeared to hedge on ASU's late-season prospects earlier last week, BYU fans were buying up tickets to Saturday's showdown in Tempe. Matthew Self, The Arizona Republic, 22 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for appear 

Word History

Etymology

Middle English aperen, apperen, borrowed from Anglo-French apier-, aper-, tonic stem of aparer, apareir, aparoir, going back to Latin appārēre "to come into sight, be visible, be evident," from ad- ad- + pārēre "to be visible, be evident, be subject (to), comply (with)," of uncertain origin

Note: Latin pārēre has been compared with a supposed base *peh2-s-, suggested as the source of Avestan pišiiaṇt- "seeing," Armenian hayim "(I) look," Albanian pashë "(I) saw," though the limited nature of the evidence makes such a hypothesis speculative.

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of appear was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near appear

Cite this Entry

“Appear.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/appear. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

appear

verb
ap·​pear ə-ˈpi(ə)r How to pronounce appear (audio)
1
: to come into sight : become plain : show
stars appeared in the sky
2
: to present oneself formally (as to answer a charge)
appear in court
3
: seem sense 1, look
things are not always as they appear
appears to be tired
4
: to come before the public
appears on television

Legal Definition

appear

intransitive verb
ap·​pear
1
: to present oneself before a person or body having authority: as
a
: to present oneself in court as a party to a lawsuit often through the representation of an attorney
also : to participate as a party to a lawsuit in a way other than by physical presence (as by mail)
b
: to present oneself in court as the attorney for a party to a lawsuit
appearing for the defendant
2
: to have an outward look
conduct that appears unethical

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