Both Uses of
apparition
in
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
- Horatio says 'tis but our fantasy,
And will not let belief take hold of him
Touching this dreaded sight, twice seen of us:
Therefore I have entreated him along
With us to watch the minutes of this night;
That, if again this apparition come
He may approve our eyes and speak to it.†Scene 1.1apparition = a ghostlike figure or its appearance
- This to me
In dreadful secrecy impart they did;
And I with them the third night kept the watch:
Where, as they had deliver'd, both in time,
Form of the thing, each word made true and good,
The apparition comes: I knew your father;
These hands are not more like.†Scene 1.2 *
Definitions:
-
(1)
(apparition as in: a headless apparition) a ghostlike figure or its appearance
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
More rarely, apparition can refer to any strange, other-worldly, thing or its appearance. Even more rarely, apparition can by a synonym for appearance. The Harry Potter series uses the word both ways.