apparition

Everyday

1. An apparition is a ghost or a strange figure that appears suddenly, especially one people think is a spirit. tree →
2. (formal) An apparition is the sudden appearance of something unexpected. tree →
3. An apparition can also be a lovely person who suddenly seems to appear, like a vision. tree →

In the lessons

Used in ghost stories and spooky tales: «a pale apparition at the window». It tells the reader something mysterious or frightening has appeared. In real life, science explains many «apparitions» as tricks of light, shadows or imagination.

Examples

• A white apparition floated down the stairs. tree →
• The children thought they saw an apparition in the old house. tree →
• The apparition vanished as the lights came on. tree →
• The «apparition» turned out to be a curtain in the wind. tree →
• Old castles are said to have apparitions. tree →
• The sudden apparition of a deer on the road startled Dad. tree →
• Like an apparition of loveliness she appeared in the soft twilight. tree →

Note

Plural: apparitions. Verb: appear. Myth: there is no proof that ghosts are real; many sightings have simple explanations.

In Jewish tradition

In this old translation it means a vision seen by prophets.

Interpretation. Kabbalah names one of the thirty-two paths of wisdom as the one from which prophets' visions come.

Examples

• The Twelfth Path is the Intelligence of Transparency, because it is that species of Magnificence., called CHAZCHAZIT, which is named the place whence issues the vision of those seeing in apparitions. (That is, the prophecies by seers in a vision.) (Sefer Yetzirah, Westcott 1887) tree →

Note

Plural: apparitions. Verb: appear. Myth: there is no proof that ghosts are real; many sightings have simple explanations.