Make Your Point > Archived Issues > RENDEZVOUS
Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.
pronounce
RENDEZVOUS:
Say it "RON day voo."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
In Medieval Latin, rendere means "to give back," a verb that eventually trickled into English words like render, rendition, surrender, rent, and rendezvous ("a meeting").
So we can think of rendezvous as literally meaning "to give yourself back," which is pretty much what you're doing when you meet someone at a planned time and place. Like the club at the end of the street, when the stars up above walk the heavens hand in hand:
"Ooh, where we meet.
Me and you, rendezvous
In the club at the end of the street."
Thanks, Elton John! That kind of rendezvous is a romantic one, a meetup of lovers. So we could describe it with a more specific noun: _____. Can you recall it? It's one syllable, and it rhymes with "kissed."
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
In French, rendez vous means "present yourselves." (You can see how the rendez comes from the Latin rendere, "give back.")
Since 1556 or so, we've used some form of "rendezvous" to mean "a meeting, especially a military meeting of troops or ships," often in phrases like "the place of rendezvous" and "the hour of rendezvous."
Over time, "rendezvous" came to mean "any kind of meeting or meeting place, usually planned in advance, and usually for a specific reason--often for a private or tactical reason." It morphed into a verb, too: to rendezvous is to meet or to assemble.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Both a noun ("Where's the rendezvous?;" "She gave us a new rendezvous") and a verb ("We'll rendezvous there;" "The general rendezvoused a thousand troops here").
And, sometimes an adjective: "the rendezvous place," "the rendezvous time."
Other forms:
The plural noun is spelled the same but pronounced "RON day vooze."
A note on verb endings:
As a verb, "rendezvous" is spelled so oddly near the end that you might be wondering: do we follow all the regular English rules for conjugating it?
We do! I'll show you.
"The bird sings." "The bird flies." "The bird rendezvous (RON day vooze)." In other words, to conjugate the verb "rendezvous" for a singular third-person subject in the present tense, spell it the same ("rendezvous") but say "RON day vooze:" "As we watch, the bird rendezvous with its mate on the highest branch."
"The bird sang." "The bird flew." "The bird rendezvoused." To use the past tense, write "rendezvoused" and say "RON day vood:" "We saw how they rendezvoused on the highest branch."
"We heard them singing." "We saw them flying." "We saw them rendezvousing." For the progressive, write "rendezvousing" and say "RON day voo ing:" "We saw them rendezvousing on the highest branch."
how to use it:
"Rendezvous" is a common word with an exciting tone.
It suggests the quiet, stealthy, efficient activity of spies, soldiers, or lovers. So, pick it instead of "meet" or "meeting" when you're talking about something secret, adventurous, or illegal.
"We rendezvous at midnight." "They'll rendezvous with you at the old oak tree." "She didn't make it to the rendezvous point--we have to go rescue her."
It's also great for getting figurative. "This is where the rivers rendezvous."
examples:
"I insist she take my sleeping bag, in case it's not possible to rendezvous by nightfall."
— Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games, 2008
"Occasionally, Elizabeth would rendezvous with a Soviet agent in Washington by standing in front of a drugstore in Georgetown, wearing a red flower in her hat and holding a copy of Life magazine."
— Marc Favreau, Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia, 2019
has this page helped you understand "rendezvous"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "rendezvous" without saying "meet" or "meeting."
try it out:
Fill in the blank: "(Some distinctive landmark) makes a great rendezvous spot."
Example: "This chapel with the purple stained glass windows makes a great rendezvous spot."
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game for this month is MYP Wordles!
You're likely familiar with the popular new game Wordle, created by Josh Wardle and recently purchased by the New York Times. You can play the real Wordle each day here.
It's fun, simple, and addictive. You try to guess the five-letter word. Each time you guess, you see how close you are: a green box means you've gotten the right letter in the right spot; a yellow box means you've gotten a letter that's in the word but in the wrong spot; a gray box means you've guessed a letter that isn't in the word at all.
There's only one real Wordle every day. But luckily for us, the good folks at StriveMath.com have created a copycat Wordle tool, so you can play as many Wordles as you want, and even create and share your own.
So, in each issue this month, try the MYP Wordle linked below. The answer will be a word we've studied. I'll give a series of hints that you can reveal if you choose to. If you can't figure out the answer, you can let the puzzle reveal it, or you can scroll all the way down. Enjoy!
Click here to play today's MYP Wordle.
If you need some hints, highlight the hidden white text below.
The letter it starts with is… V
The vowels it includes are… A and I
The part of speech is… adjective
The definition is… dull and boring, with no liveliness and no significance
review this word:
A. TO TEAR.
B. TO PART.
C. TO WANE.
2.
A successful lunar orbit rendezvous occurs when the lunar lander _____ the larger spacecraft.
A. redocks with
B. detaches from
C. maintains communication with
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
On vocabulary...
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.
From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
In Medieval Latin, rendere means "to give back," a verb that eventually trickled into English words like render, rendition, surrender, rent, and rendezvous ("a meeting").
In French, rendez vous means "present yourselves." (You can see how the rendez comes from the Latin rendere, "give back.")
Part of speech:
"Rendezvous" is a common word with an exciting tone.
"I insist she take my sleeping bag, in case it's not possible to rendezvous by nightfall."
Explain the meaning of "rendezvous" without saying "meet" or "meeting."
Fill in the blank: "(Some distinctive landmark) makes a great rendezvous spot."
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. |