rendezvous (English)
Where does "rendezvous" come from?
The English word 'rendezvous' is a borrowing from the French 'rendez-vous' which serves as a noun meaning 'appointment'[1]. This term originates from the second person plural imperative form of the French verb 'se rendre' meaning 'to go to'[1][2]. Literally translated, the phrase signifies 'you go to' or 'get yourself to a place'[1]. While it originally referred to an agreed time or location for meetings or military assemblies, the term has expanded to include diverse modern usages such as spacecraft orbital maneuvers and places of refuge[1].
Full etymology tree
- rendezvous (English), 'A meeting or date.'
- borrowed rendez-vous (French), 'date'
- compound rendez (French), 'inflection of rendre:'
- inherited rendre (Old French), 'to give back; to return (something)'
- inherited *rendere (Vulgar Latin)
- inherited reddere (Latin), 'second-person singular future passive indicative of reddō'
- inherited *rendere (Vulgar Latin)
- inherited rendre (Old French), 'to give back; to return (something)'
- compound vous (French), 'the plural personal pronoun in the second person:'
- inherited vous (Middle French), 'you (plural or polite)'
- inherited vos (Old French), 'you, ye (second-person plural or second-person singular polite subject pronoun)'
- inherited vos (Latin), 'you, ye, you all; nominative/accusative/vocative plural of tū'
- inherited *wōs (Proto-Italic), 'you (second-person plural)'
- inherited vos (Latin), 'you, ye, you all; nominative/accusative/vocative plural of tū'
- inherited vos (Old French), 'you, ye (second-person plural or second-person singular polite subject pronoun)'
- inherited vous (Middle French), 'you (plural or polite)'
- compound rendez (French), 'inflection of rendre:'
- borrowed rendez-vous (French), 'date'
Ancestors
Descendants and derived words
- randibŵ (Welsh)
- rondefŵ (Welsh)
Sources
Updated August 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris