Etymograph

English

appear

Appear comes from Old French aparoir, from Latin appāreō, from pāreō ‘to become visible’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- ‘to protect’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂-1‘to protect’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂s-1‘to watch, see’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpāreō2‘to come forth, become visible’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEappāreō3as appareo‘to appear’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400aparoir1‘to appear’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500apperen1
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604appear1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English appear
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin appareo
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old French aparoir
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure: “[Angelo] is yet a devil / His filth within…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂-Wiktionary, English appear‘to protect’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂s-Wiktionary, English appear‘to watch, see’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpāreōWiktionary, Latin appareo‘to come forth, become visible’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEappāreōWiktionary, Old French aparoiras appareo‘to appear’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400aparoirWiktionary, English appear‘to appear’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500apperenWiktionary, English appear
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604appearWiktionary, English appear. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure: “[Angelo] is yet a devil / His filth within…”

Linked words

through Latin pāreō ‘be visible’

transparency, 4 more

through Latin appareo ‘to appear, be visible, come into sight’

apparition, 3 more

Today it means

verb To come or be in sight; to be in view; to become visible.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “appear”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin appareo, Old French aparoir. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- / appear

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