appointment

[uh-point-muhnt]

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.

appointment

/ 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

Other Word Forms

• proappointment adjective
• reappointment noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of appointment¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

see make an appointment.

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

A Hassett appointment would suggest a faster path to lower rates and a more politically aligned central bank.

Read more on Barron's

Dr Chris Williams also said that Swinney's promise to provide an additional one million appointments in a year was "not that large", compared to the current level of general practice activity.

Read more on BBC

The appointment marks a homecoming, as the Italian designer joined the Roman fashion house in 1989.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

"At medical appointments we realised we could sign to each other to communicate something privately," explains Mark.

Read more on BBC

When it came back online, I saw my appointment had been cancelled days earlier "due to unforeseen circumstances."

Read more on BBC

Related Words

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