rendezvous
Americannoun
-
rendezvous
plural
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an agreement between two or more persons to meet at a certain time and place.
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the meeting itself.
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a place designated for a meeting or assembling, especially of troops or ships.
-
a meeting of two or more spacecraft in outer space.
-
a favorite or popular gathering place.
verb (used with or without object)
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rendezvous,
present (3rd person singular)
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rendezvoused,
past participle, past
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rendezvousing
present participle
noun
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a meeting or appointment to meet at a specified time and place
-
a place where people meet
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an arranged meeting of two spacecraft
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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rendezvoussimple
-
have rendezvousedperfect
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has rendezvousedperfect
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am rendezvousingprogressive
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are rendezvousingprogressive
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is rendezvousingprogressive
-
have been rendezvousingperfect progressive
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has been rendezvousingperfect progressive
Past
-
rendezvousedsimple
-
had rendezvousedperfect
-
was rendezvousingprogressive
-
were rendezvousingprogressive
-
had been rendezvousingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rendezvous
1585–95; < Middle French, noun use of rendez-vous (imperative) present or betake yourselves; see render 1
Explanation
Rendezvous is a very French way to say "meeting" or "date." So go ahead and call your next dentist appointment or lunch date with friends a rendezvous. In the 1590s, rendezvous meant “a place for assembling of troops.” And you'll still hear military tacticians talking about "rendezvous points" today. But more often we use rendezvous to describe an assembling of friends, an appointment, or a date with your secret lover. If you're feeling extra Frenchy, you can use rendezvous as a verb, as in "Let's rendezvous next Saturday at the mall."
Vocabulary lists containing rendezvous
The Silent Treatment: Words Plagued by Silent Letters
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Hamilton
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"Of Plymouth Plantation," Vocabulary from the historical account
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Sombert and Youskevitch rendezvous for a haunting, lamplit pas de deux.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Having withdrawn from an England Under-21s camp, a secret rendezvous to meet US Soccer officials was instead plastered all over social media and he was courted with NBA tickets and trips to Florida.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
Once Orion completes initial system checks, it will attempt rendezvous and docking operations for the first time with test versions of lunar landers being developed by Blue Origin and SpaceX.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 11, 2026
The primary goals of the trip include testing the abilities of NASA's Orion spacecraft, as well as a rendezvous with lunar landers developed by the private space companies SpaceX and Blue Origin.
From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026
Several more missions tested the idea of spacecraft that could rendezvous and dock to each other.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
Rusesabagina and Niyomwungere rendezvoused as planned at the Ibis Styles hotel and then went to the airport.
From New York Times ● Mar. 2, 2021
A few miles offshore, in the Malacca Strait, each rendezvoused with a second, empty tanker that had pulled alongside.
From Reuters ● Jun. 12, 2020
After she learned her name was on his shortlist of future collaborators, they rendezvoused in Los Angeles in 2016 to make her sixth album, “Semper Femina.”
From Washington Post ● Jun. 10, 2020
Instead of getting together in person, they rendezvoused in front of their respective laptop screens.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2020
Climbing to twenty thousand feet, he rendezvoused with nine other Skyhawks headed for North Vietnam.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
The crew will then spend a little less than a full day in orbit before rendezvousing with the International Space Station.
From The Verge ● Oct. 29, 2021
We had planned to meet at the Nice airport, but after a flight delay, I ended up rendezvousing with them in Antibes.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 12, 2018
He stated that he was arrested as he was rendezvousing with a 35-year-old former North Korean solider, who was giving him a USB stick and camera containing military secrets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2016
Bowie reportedly wrote this song after seeing a couple rendezvousing under the Berlin Wall and imagining their story.
From Time ● Jan. 11, 2016
"By daybreak" we are all astir, rendezvousing, ranking,—into Four Columns; ready to advance in that fashion for battle, or for deploying into battle, wherever the Enemy turn up.
From History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 12 by Thomas Carlyle
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