DictionaryRoot: ad-
Latin

ad-

to, toward; addition; sometimes emphasis

Forms

  • ad-
  • ac- — Used before c in Latin.
  • af- — Used before f in Latin.
  • ag- — Used before g in Latin.
  • al- — Used before l in Latin.
  • ap- — Used before p in Latin.
  • ar- — Used before r in Latin.
  • as- — Used before s in Latin.
  • at- — Used before t in Latin.

Origin

Reconstructed Proto-Indo-European *ad, ‘to; near.’

Note

Later Latin-based spellings sometimes restored consonants that had disappeared in French.

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noun

appearance

uh-PEER-uhns/əˈpɪrəns/

The way someone or something looks or seems to others.

The young man checks his tidy appearance in the mirror.

A young Black man studies his tidy reflection in a mirror.
Etymology

The pieces turn being visible into a state or quality. For this sense, appearance is the visible form something presents—the way it looks, which can also be only a semblance.

In context

TilburgUniversity10:24
although the appearance is really really humanlike um we as The Observer can tell this is not a real human something again with the movement the eyes the skin is off
Humanoid Robots & Uncanny Valley - Studium Generale - Tilburg University

More examples

  • Her calm appearance concealed her nervousness.
  • The two plants are similar in appearance.
  • Do not judge a person solely by appearances.

Forms

appearance · appearances

Similar words

look
An everyday term for outward visual qualities.
semblance
Suggests an impression that may not reflect reality.