Etymology 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]”.
1
A meeting or date.
Near-synonym: assignation (hyponymous in modern use)
I have a rendezvous with a friend in three hours.
4 more examples
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 you1984, 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:
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 travellers1821 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:
4
Government, Military, Politics, War The 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
Aerospace, Astronautics, Business, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences A set of orbital maneuvers during which two spacecraft arrive at the same orbit and approach to a very close distance.
A rendeuous, a home to fly untoc. 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]:
Etymology 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]”.
1
To meet at an agreed time and place.
Let's rendezvous at the bordello at 8:00 and go from there.
[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:
2 more examples
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:
Related terms
rendez-vous for French definition, spelling, and pronunciation