An appearance is when a party consents to the court’s jurisdiction by appearing in the case either on their own behalf or through an attorney to make their case.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
appearance (noun)1.
a) external show - semblance although hostile, he preserved an appearance of neutrality
b) outward aspect - look had a fierce appearance
c) outward indication - trying to keep up appearances
2.
a) a sense impression or aspect of a thing - the blue of distant hills is only an appearance
b) the world of sensible phenomena
3.
a) the act, action, or process of - appearing
b) the presentation of oneself in court as a party to an action often through the representation of an attorney
4.
a) something that - appears phenomenon
b) an instance of appearing - occurrence
Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus
appearance (noun)1.
the outward form of someone or something especially as indicative of a quality
SYNONYMS:
aspect, dress, figure, garb, look, mien, outside, presence, regardRELATED WORDS:
air, attitude, bearing, behavior, comportment, demeanor, deportment, manner, poise, pose; carriage, posture, stance; cast, mold, shape, turn; color, coloring, complexion; countenance, face, features, habit, habitus, person [], physiognomy, superficies, visage2.
outward and often deceptive indication
SYNONYMS:
face, guise, name, outward, seeming, semblance, showRELATED WORDS:
air, effect, impression; hint, implication, insinuation, resemblance, suggestion; affectation, demonstration, display, fiction, image, imitation, imposture, likeness, make-believe ( make-belief), pose, pretense ( pretence), representation, simulation; cloak, disguise, exterior, facade ( façade), front, gloss, mask, masquerade, patina, Potemkin village, shape, shell, surface, veneer3.
the act of coming upon a scene
SYNONYMS:
advent, appearance, coming, incomingRELATED WORDS:
approach, entrance, ingress; beginning, birth, commencement, dawn, dawning, debut ( début), genesis, inception, morning, onset, startNEAR ANTONYMS:
dissipation, dissolution, evaporation, fadeaway, fading, melting, passing, vanishing; clearing out, egress, leaving, retirement, retreat, withdrawal; emigration, evacuation, exodus