appointment

American  

[uh-point-muhnt] / əˈpɔɪnt mənt /

noun

1. a fixed mutual agreement for a meeting; engagement.

   We made an appointment to meet again.

   Synonyms:

   date, tryst, rendezvous, assignation

2. a meeting set for a specific time or place.

   I'm late for my appointment.

   Synonyms:

   date, tryst, rendezvous, assignation

3. the act of appointing, designating, or placing in office.

   to fill a vacancy by appointment.

4. an office, position, or the like, to which a person is appointed.

   He received his appointment as ambassador to Italy.

5. Usually appointments. equipment, furnishings, or accouterments.

6. appointments, accouterments for a soldier or a horse.

7. Manège. a horse-show class in which the contestant need not be a member of a hunt but must wear regulation hunt livery.

8. Archaic. decree; ordinance.

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appointment British  

/ əˈpɔɪntmənt /

noun

1. an arrangement to meet a person or be at a place at a certain time

2. the act of placing in a job or position

3. the person who receives such a job or position

4. the job or position to which such a person is appointed

5. (usually plural) a fixture or fitting

6. property law nomination to an interest in property under a deed or will

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appointment Idioms  

1. see make an appointment.

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Synonym Usage

Appointment, office, post, station all refer to kinds of duty or employment. Appointment refers to a position to which one is assigned, as by a high government official. Office often suggests a position of trust or authority. Post is usually restricted to a military or other public position, as of a diplomat, although it may also refer to a teaching position. Both post and station may refer to the place where a person is assigned to work.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• reappointment
  noun
• proappointment
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of appointment

1375–1425; late Middle English apoynt ( e ) ment < Middle French ap ( p ) ointement. See appoint, -ment

Explanation

An appointment is a preset arrangement to meet, like a dentist’s appointment, an appointment with your accountant, or an appointment to have your palm read. An appointment is a formal date or plan to meet at the appointed time. Whether you have a doctor’s appointment, a hair appointment, or a 1 o’clock lunch appointment, you need to be there — or you’ll have a broken appointment. It’s easier to remember your appointments if you write them down! With roots in the Old French apointier, meaning to “arrange, settle, or place," appointment can also mean the placing, or appointing of, someone into an unelected position.

Example Sentences

Patients face an average wait of 31 days to secure a new doctor’s appointment, according to AMN Healthcare’s 2025 Survey of Physician Appointment Wait Times, which covers major metropolitan areas.

From MarketWatch • May 1, 2026

Mowi was awarded its Royal Warrant of Appointment in 1990 when it was trading as Marine Harvest Scotland.

From BBC • Nov. 6, 2025

The appointments clause goes on to provide that “Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone.”

From Slate • Feb. 20, 2025

Appointment or not, all were determined to make it to the border and eventually Southern California.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 4, 2024

I get out and walk toward the woman sitting at the entrance reading a novel called Appointment in Samarra.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

Related Words

• approval
• certification
• choice
• designation
• election
• nomination
• selection