▪ I. appear, v.
(əˈpɪə(r))
Forms: 3–6 apere, 4–5 apeer(e, 6–7 apear(e; 5 appeere, -iere, 5–6 apper(e, 6– 7 appeare, 6 appear.
[a. aper-, tonic stem (cf. pres. subj. apere,) of OFr. apar-eir, -oir:—L. adp-, appārē-re to appear, f. ad to + pārē-re to come in sight, come forth. Subseq. with prefix Latinized, appere (see ap- prefix1), and in the reformed spelling of 16th c. appear (which then rhymed with bear, pear, but now with beer, peer). An aphetic 'pear occurs in 17th c. poetry, and is now dialectal.]
1. To come forth into view, as from a place or state of concealment, or from a distance; to become visible.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 93 Quhat perell to ȝow mycht apper. 1382 Wyclif Gen. i. 9 Gadrid be watris..in to o place, and apere the drie. 1473 J. Warkworth Chron. 5 There apperyde a blasynge sterre in the weste. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. iii. 7 So soone as morrow light Appear'd in heaven. 1642 H. More Song of Soul i. ii. ii, They 'pear and then are hid. 1667 Marvell Corr. 71 Wks. 1872–5 II. 212 The Dutch begin to appear again near Gravesend. 1712 Pope Messiah 30 Prepare the way! a God, a God appears. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 678 The fleet..on the twenty-first appeared before the harbour. |
2. esp. of angels, disembodied spirits, and visions.
| c 1250 Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 27 Aperede an ongel of heuene in here slepe. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 2280 God wil þus Suffer þe devel apere til us. 1382 Wyclif Matt. xxvii. 53 And many bodies of seintes..apeeriden to manye. 1714 Byrom Spect. No. 587 ¶3 A Shape, like that in which we paint our Angels, appeared before me. 1862 Trench Miracles xxxiii. 455 Men do not see them [angels], but they appear to men. |
3. To be in sight, be visible.
| c 1360 Deo Gratias in E.E.P. (1862) 129 Nou appeereþ. non of þo. 1366 Mandeville xvii. 180 This Sterre..that wee clepen the Lode Sterre, ne apperethe not to hem. c 1400 Destr. Troy v. 1642 To all the prouyns þe toures apperit. 1535 Coverdale 2 Esdr. xi. 13 The place therof appeared no more. a 1631 Donne Poems (1650) 2 My face in thine eye, thine in mine appeares. 1734 tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) II. ii. §2. 1 Nothing appeared to the eye but a few pitiful cottages. |
4. To present oneself formally before an authority or tribunal; to put in an appearance. Hence, to present oneself as legal representative of another; to act as counsel.
| 1330 R. Brunne Chron. 255 With right he leses his chance þorgh faut þat not apers. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. ix. Prol. 45 At a court I mon appeir, Fell accusationis þare til here. 1589 Marprel. Protest. (title-page) By open disputation to apear in the defence of his cause. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 427 ¶2 Many..are known to have Ill-will to him for whom I [Cicero] appear. 1809 Tomlins Law Dict. H vij/1 Attornies subscribing warrants to appear, are liable to attachment, upon non-appearance. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 97 The Bishop of London was cited before the new tribunal. He appeared. 1883 Times 21 Aug. 10/1 Mr. ― appeared for the prosecution. Mr. ― appeared to defend. |
5. To come before the public in any character or capacity; to display oneself on the stage of action or acting.
| 1607 Shakes. Cor. iv. iii. 35 Your noble Tullus Auffidius will appeare well in these Warres. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 1 ¶5, I appear on Sunday nights at St. James's Coffee House. 1883 Athenæum 15 Sept. 348/1 The Vokes family will appear..at the Prince of Wales's Theatre. |
6. To come before the public in the character of an author by his works.
| 1713 Guardian No. 10 And so am forced..to appear in print. c 1735 Pope Epil. Sat. i. i, Not twice a twelvemonth you appear in print. 1881 Green Short Hist. vii. 419 Fifty dramatic poets..appeared in the fifty years which precede the closing of the theatres by the Puritans. |
7. To come before the public as a book or other publication does; to be published, come out.
| 1711 Addison Spect. No. 10 ¶3 That where the Spectator appears, the other publick Prints will vanish. 1782 Cowper Lett. 18 Nov., I little thought when I was writing the history of John Gilpin, that he would appear in print. 1877 W. Lytteil Landm. iii. i. 98 Several works on Arran..have already appeared. |
8. To show itself or be plainly set forth in a document; to be shown, declared; to occur.
| c 1531 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 34 As more large apperyth in for-sayde autoryte. 1605 Camden Rem. 5 As appeereth in an antient Roman Provinciall. 1735 Pope Hor. Ep. ii. ii. 165 Mark where a bold expressive phrase appears. 1817 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. ii. 373 Enough does not appear to condemn any individual. |
9. To be clear or evident to the understanding; to be plain, manifest.
| c 1400 Chaucer Rom. Rose 5511 Now apperith her folye. 1477 Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 12 Suche workes wol not be hidde, but at the last they wol appere. 1540 Coverdale Fruitf. Les. ii. Wks. 1849 I. 316 Thus appeareth the power of his death. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 257 Our greatness will appear Then most conspicuous. 1710 Prideaux Orig. Tithes ii. 101, I am next to make appear that no such alteration is made by the change of country. 1756 Burke Vind. Nat. Soc. Wks. I. 15 The more clearly their excellences must appear. |
b. impers. It is clear or evident.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. v. iv. 162 Þat it may apere þat þe prescience is signe of þis necessite. 1428 in Heath Grocers' Comp. (1869) 6 As it aperith pleynely be here aconte, as followyth. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 236 It doth appeare, you are a worthy Iudge. 1875 Bryce Holy Rom. Emp. xii. 186 Nor does it appear that authority was ever exercised by any Emperor in Spain. |
† c. To promise, be expected, be likely in due course (to become something). See apparent 5.
| c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. i. 95 That Madyn fayre That..apperyd till have bene Be the lawch of Norway Quene. Ibid. ix. xvi. 4 Robert þe kelt..apperand þan For to be a Lord of mycht. |
10. To be to the mind, or in one's opinion; to be taken as, to seem.
| 1388 Wyclif Isa. lix. 15 And the Lord siȝ, and it apperide yuel in hise iȝen. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. iii. 30 Where their vn-taught loue Must needs appear offence. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. i. xxvii. 153 They choose that which appeareth best for themselves. 1833 H. Martineau Brooke Farm i. 1 Strangers do not appear struck with it. |
b. impers. It seems.
| 1603 Shakes. Merry W. iii. i. 72 Page. Hee's the man should fight with him..Shal. It appeares so by his weapons. 1754 Hume Hist. Eng. (1803) I. 41 Solely, as it appears, for what you believe to be for our advantage. 1812 Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 5 Theophrastus did not, it appears, adopt the sublime doctrines of his master. |
11. To seem, as distinguished from to be; to be in outward show, or to the superficial observer.
| 1559 Myrr. Mag., R. Tresilian iv, And matters of most wrong, to haue appered most right. 1611 Bible Matt. vi. 16 That they may appeare vnto men to fast. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 113 His Tongue..could make the worse appear The better reason. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 445 ¶7, I am afraid of making them appear considerable by taking notice of them. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. §1. 223 Raindrops which descend vertically appear to meet us when we move swiftly. |
▪ II. † aˈppear, n. Obs. rare—1.
[f. prec. n.]
The act of appearing, appearance.
| a 1610 Fletcher Faithf. Sheph. v. i, Dew, Which she on every little grass doth strew..against the Sun's appear. |