rendezvous

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UK/ˈɹɒndɪˌvuː/UK/ˈɹɒndeɪ̯ˌvuː/US/ˈɹɑndəˌvu/US/ˈɹɑndeɪ̯ˌvu/

noun

A meeting or date.

“I have a rendezvous with a friend in three hours.”

Less commonScrabble 23

Meanings

nounrendezvous (plural rendezvous or (rare) rendezvouses)

plural rare rendezvouses · alternative archaic randezvous · alternative rendez-vous

  1. A meeting or date.

    I have a rendezvous with a friend in three hours.

    5 more examples

    Near-synonym: assignation (hyponymous in modern use)

    The hare lends its form to the witch for her twilight flittings and scuddings to the place of some unhallowed rendezvous.

    1845, Dublin University Magazine, volume 25, page 39

    These perfumeries were also used as places of assignation and sexual rendezvous.

    1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 162

    You might think it's foolish / This chancy rendezvous / (You might think) You might think I'm crazy / (All I want) All I want is you

    1984, Ric Ocasek, “You Might Think”, in Heartbeat City, performed by The Cars

    “It is my understanding from other parties who are trying to arrange a rendezvous with myself and the President, it is being arranged for me to give him the firsthand information from (Assange),” Rohrabacher said.

    2017 August 29, Andrew Kaczynski, quoting Dana Rohrabacher, “Rep. Rohrabacher says ‘rendezvous’ being set up with Trump to relay info from WikiLeaks’ Assange on DNC hack”, in CNN, archived from the original on 03 Dec 2022

    Synonyms: assignation

  2. An agreement to meet at a certain place and time.

    Get the party started at the rendezvous at oh six hours.

  3. A place appointed for a meeting, or at which persons customarily meet.

    an inn, the free rendezvous of all travellers

    1821 January 8, [Walter Scott], Kenilworth; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; and John Ballantyne, […]; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC

    Synonyms: meeting place

  4. governmentThe appointed place for troops, or for the ships of a fleet, to assemble; also, a place for enlistment.

    The king appointed his whole army to be drawn together to a rendezvous at Marlborough.

    1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the [Sheldonian] Theater
  5. aerospaceA set of orbital maneuvers during which two spacecraft arrive at the same orbit and approach to a very close distance.
  6. obsoleteA retreat or refuge.

    A rendeuous, a home to fly unto

    c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]
verbrendezvous (third-person singular simple present rendezvouses or rendezvous, present participle rendezvousing, simple past and past participle rendezvoused)

present singular third person rendezvouses · participle present rendezvousing · participle past rendezvoused · past rendezvoused · alternative archaic randezvous · alternative rendez-vous

  1. intransitiveTo meet at an agreed time and place.

    Let's rendezvous at the bordello at 8:00 and go from there.

    3 more examples

    [H]e ſupplied Charles vvith a numerous army, vvhich rendezvouſed at Angers, under the command of his eldeſt ſon John duke of Normandy, attended by ſeveral princes of the blood and the flovver of the French nobility.

    1757, T[obias] Smollett, chapter V, in A Complete History of England, […], volume II, London: […] James Rivington and James Fletcher, […], →OCLC, 3rd book (From the Death of King John to the Death of Edward III.), § XLIII, page 41

    In the entrance-hall, a surprising number of opera-goers have already rendezvoused.

    2002, Michel Faber, The Crimson Petal and the White, Canongate Books (2010), page 392

    They saw each other four times after that, rendezvousing at New York locations reflecting their own tastes. For him, the Knickerbocker Bar & Grill; for her, the Standard and Ludlow hotels.

    2024 February 16, Minju Pak, “Ode to a Punk Rock ‘Sex God’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 24 Feb 2024

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA meeting or date.

nounA place appointed for a meeting, or at which persons customarily meet.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

nouna date; usually with a member of the opposite sex

Similar

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Frenchrendez-vous“appointment”
  2. Englishrendezvous

Borrowed from French rendez-vous (“appointment”), noun derived from second person plural imperative of se rendre (“to go to”), literally, “[you (imperative)] go to, get yourself to [a place]”.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian сре́ща, място на среща
  • сре́ща (sréšta)meeting or date
  • място на среща (mjasto na srešta)a place appointed for a meeting
  • срещам се (sreštam se)meet at an agreed time and place
Chinese Mandarin 會合 /会合, 約會 /约会
  • 會合 /会合 (huìhé)meeting or date
  • 約會 /约会 (yuēhuì)meeting or date
  • 約會 /约会 (yuēhuì)agreement to meet
  • 約會地點 /约会地点 (yuēhuì dìdiǎn)agreement to meet
  • 約會時間 /约会时间 (yuēhuì shíjiān)agreement to meet
  • 會合 /会合 (huìhé)meet at an agreed time and place
  • 見面 /见面 (jiànmiàn)meet at an agreed time and place
Czech rande, dostaveníčko
  • randemeeting or date
  • dostaveníčkoagreement to meet
Danish rendezvous, rendezvous
  • rendezvousmeeting or date
  • rendezvousagreement to meet
Finnish tapaaminen, tapaaminen
  • tapaaminenmeeting or date
  • tapaaminenagreement to meet
  • tapaamispaikkaa place appointed for a meeting
  • tavatameet at an agreed time and place
  • kohdatameet at an agreed time and place
French rendez-vous, rendez-vous
  • rendez-vousmeeting or date
  • rendez-vousagreement to meet
  • se donner rendez-vousmeet at an agreed time and place
  • se rencontrermeet at an agreed time and place
  • se rejoindremeet at an agreed time and place
German Rendezvous, Rendezvous
  • Rendezvousmeeting or date
  • Rendezvousagreement to meet
  • sich treffenmeet at an agreed time and place
Greek ραντεβού
  • ραντεβού (rantevoú)meeting or date
Hungarian randevú
  • randevúmeeting or date
Japanese 待ち合わせる
  • 待ち合わせる (machiawaseru)meet at an agreed time and place
Māori taupunipuni
  • taupunipunia place appointed for a meeting
Persian دیدار, ملاقات
  • دیدار (didâr)meeting or date
  • ملاقات (molâqât)meeting or date
  • وعدهٔ دیدار (va'de-ye didâr)agreement to meet
  • قرار ملاقات (qarâr-e molâqât)agreement to meet
Polish randka, rendez-vous
  • randkameeting or date
  • rendez-vousmeeting or date
  • spotkanieagreement to meet
  • miejsce spotkaniaa place appointed for a meeting
  • spotykać sięmeet at an agreed time and place
  • spotkać sięmeet at an agreed time and place
Portuguese encontro, rendez-vous
  • encontromeeting or date
  • rendez-vousagreement to meet
Russian свида́ние, встре́ча
  • свида́ние (svidánije)meeting or date
  • встре́ча (vstréča)meeting or date
  • рандеву́ (randɛvú)meeting or date
Spanish encuentro, cita
  • encuentromeeting or date
  • citameeting or date
  • rendez-vousmeeting or date
  • punto de encuentroa place appointed for a meeting
Tagalog tagpuan
  • tagpuanmeeting or date
Thai จุดนัดพบ
  • จุดนัดพบa place appointed for a meeting
Turkish randevu, randevu
  • randevumeeting or date
  • randevuagreement to meet
  • randevulaşmakmeet at an agreed time and place
Welsh rondefŵ, rondefŵ
  • rondefŵmeeting or date
  • rondefŵagreement to meet
Cite this entry
APA

rendezvous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rendezvous

MLA

“rendezvous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rendezvous. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rendezvous,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rendezvous.

Source: rendezvous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.