Definition of "Appearance"

The appearance definition isn’t as one might expect. The term itself is used in different ways, but they all are connected with perception or how something or someone is seen or perceived by another party. While appearance is also used to state the physical location, arrival, or presence of someone, for example, someone making an appearance by showing up in a particular place, the word is most often used from a philosophical perspective.

What is the Definition of Appearance?

The most well-grounded definition of appearance is the one that limits the term appearance into the physical. The act or fact of appearing is used to describe someone’s physical appearance in front of the eye and the mind of the public. This same meaning is often used as a term in legal practices for someone coming into a court proceeding.

However, going into the less grounded meanings and uses of the word, we get into the philosophical explanation. The term appearance, in philosophy, regards something or someone that seems to be based on the perception of a thing and not its objective reality. 

Through philosophy, the term appearance is used in contradiction with reality. From the cosmologies that governed Asia Minor to Plato, Kant, and Indian philosophy, there was a distinguishable difference between appearance and reality, the first not being a synonym of the other but, in a way, its opposite. The reason for that is that appearance is based on our perception of the truth, while the reality is based on facts and logic. Because of that, today’s usage of the term appearance is split. On the one hand, we have the physical appearance as presence; on the other, we have the manner, condition, state of appearance based on perception.

Some synonyms of the word appearance are air, aspect, arrival, coming, figure, look, manner, mien, presence, and pretense.

image of a real estate dictionary page

Have a question or comment?

We're here to help.

*** Your email address will remain confidential.
 

 

Popular Real Estate Terms

Drain facility usually underground for waste and water disposal consisting on connected pipes. ...

Millennials – also known as Generation Y, because they come after the so-called Generation X - is a term coined for a generational extract of people born at the end of the first ...

Rate of return that is necessary to maintain market value of a real estate project. The cost of capital is used for project evaluation purposes. Under the net present value method, the cost ...

Adding a period of time onto another. An examples a mortgagor who successfully restructures his loan by tacking another five years onto the term. ...

A hard white finishing cement with a fast setting time and a high polish capability. Consisting of anhydrous gypsum plaster and an accelerant, alum, Keene's cement is normally applied over ...

Insurance contract providing coverage for risks primarily associated with negligence and acts of omission associated with third-party injuries or property losses. Property and casualty ...

Construction materials from stone, brick, and concrete block. Masonry materials play an important role in providing structural support as well as being used as decorative finish surfaces. ...

Water/plaster mix used as a surface for walls and ceilings. ...

People often ask themselves, what does interim mean? By definition, interim means a break or pause in a particular activity. As an adjective, interim means a temporary, provisional, or ...

Popular Real Estate Questions