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appear (v.)

late 13c., "come into view," from stem of Old French aparoir, aperer "appear, come to light, come forth" (12c., Modern French apparoir), from Latin apparere "to appear, come in sight, make an appearance," from ad "to" (see ad-) + parere "to come forth, be visible; submit, obey," which is of uncertain origin; de Vaan says from a PIE *prh-o- "providing." Of persons, "present oneself," late 14c. Meaning "seem, have a certain appearance" is late 14c. Related: Appeared; appearing.

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Definitions of appear from WordNet

appear (v.)
give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect;
This appears to be a very difficult problem
They appeared like people who had not eaten or slept for a long time
Synonyms: look / seem
appear (v.)
come into sight or view;
A new star appeared on the horizon
He suddenly appeared at the wedding
appear (v.)
be issued or published;
Did your latest book appear yet?
Synonyms: come out
appear (v.)
seem to be true, probable, or apparent;
It appears that the weather in California is very bad
Synonyms: seem
appear (v.)
come into being or existence, or appear on the scene;
Homo sapiens appeared millions of years ago
Synonyms: come along
appear (v.)
appear as a character on stage or appear in a play, etc.;
She appeared in `Hamlet' on the London stage
Gielgud appears briefly in this movie
appear (v.)
present oneself formally, as before a (judicial) authority;
She appeared on several charges of theft
He had to appear in court last month
From wordnet.princeton.edu