Other forms: appeared, appears, appearing
To appear is to come into view, so that one moment there is nothing and the next there it is. A face at a window, a taxi appearing at the end of the street, mushrooms that appear on the lawn overnight.
Appear also means to seem, and that is the sense you will write most: he appeared nervous, it appears that the letter was never sent. Public life gives the word another job, since actors appear in films, witnesses appear in court, and a band appears at a festival. Things that are published appear too, as in the article appeared in Tuesday's paper. The opposite of the first sense is disappear, the same word with dis- pushed in front. Watch the pattern: appear plus an adjective, appear to be, or the useful it appears that, but never appear like.
1verbappearTo come into view; to become visible.~30%
“A fox appeared at the edge of the garden and stood still.”
2verbseemTo seem.~10%
“She appeared calm, but her hands were shaking.”
3verbtakeTo take part in something in public, such as a film, a concert or a court case.~40%
“He appeared in three films that year.”
4verbpublishedTo be published or become available.~20%
“Her first novel appeared in 1998.”
Shares are an estimate: a language model read 20 sentences found in the wild and placed 20 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.
Appear came through Old French from Latin appāreō, built from ad, meaning to, and pāreō, to come forth or become visible. The old root behind pāreō has to do with watching and seeing. At bottom, to appear is to come out where an eye can catch you.
Proto-Indo-European
*peh₂-
Proto-Indo-European
*peh₂s- — watch, see
Latin
appāreō — to appear
Old French
aparoir
Middle English
apperen
English, today
appear
Built from
From Middle English apperen, aperen, borrowed from Old French aparoir (French apparoir), from Latin appāreō (“to appear”), from ad (“to”) + pāreō (“to come forth, to become visible”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European peh₂s- (“watch, see”), s-present of peh₂- (“protect”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA