Deriving from the Latin apparere "appear," apparition was first used in 1520 in a religious context, referring to the moment when the three wise men appear before the infant Jesus in the Bible. Later, apparition came to include the appearance of ghosts, or ghostly figures. It can also mean a memory so vivid it's like seeing a ghost.

Apparition is a term for a supernatural appearance. An apparition of a person or thing is an immaterial appearance that seems real, and is generally sudden or startling in its manifestation. Apparition denote an illusory appearance, as in a dream; the former may be pleasant, while the latter is usually frightening: a phantom of loveliness; a monstrous phantasm.