Definition of "apparition" in English

noun

1. An act of becoming visible; appearance; visibility.

2. The thing appearing; a visible object; a form.

3. An unexpected, wonderful, or preternatural appearance; especially, one by a ghost, phantom, or suchlike; the entity itself.

   • The region's economy is buoyed by tourism driven by past apparitions of the Virgin Mary.
   • The attic is said to be haunted by the ghostly apparition of a young girl who died there.
   • He spoke to the apparition, and although its lips did not move, he somehow heard its reply.

4. (astronomy) The first appearance of a star or other luminary after having been invisible or obscured; opposed to occultation.

5. (astronomy) A period of consecutive days or nights when a particular celestial body may be observed, beginning with the heliacal rising of the body and ending with its heliacal setting.