Meaning

noun outward or visible aspect of a person or thing

noun the event of coming into sight

noun formal attendance (in court or at a hearing) of a party in an action

originBorrowed from Middle French apparence, from Latin apparentia, from appareo. Morphologically appear + -ance. Doublet of apparence and apparency. Displaced native Old English hīew (“the way something looks or seems”) and ætīewednes (“act of appearing or coming into view”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0