appear
UK[əˈpɪə(r)]US[əˈpɪr]
v
to come into sight; to become visible
v
to seem or look a particular way
v
to be published or become available for the public to see, read, or use
Etymology
the verb 'appear' entered english in the late 13th century from the anglo-norman french 'aperer' and old french 'aparoir', which themselves stemmed from the latin verb 'apparēre'. this latin source is a compound of 'ad-' meaning "to" and 'parēre' meaning "come forth, be visible". the core notion is of something coming to sight or presenting itself to view. the semantic evolution from the literal "come into sight" to the more abstract "seem or look a certain way" is a natural metaphorical extension, as one's perception is based on what presents itself visually. the latin root 'parēre' is also the ancestor of related english words like 'apparent' and 'transparent', all sharing the fundamental idea of becoming visible or clear.
Analysis
the word is a simplex form derived from latin and borrowed into english via anglo-norman and old french. it is not productively segmented into smaller, meaningful substrings in modern english spelling.
Examples
a ship appeared on the horizon.
she appears to be very confident in meetings.
his latest article will appear in tomorrow's newspaper.