appointment
/əˈpɔɪntm(ə)nt
/noun
1An arrangement to meet someone at a particular time and place: she made an appointment with my receptionist...
- We were building a house in Isleworth, and I had made an appointment to meet a friend of ours on the site.
- We felt she was a genuine caller and an officer made an appointment to meet her; the lady did not turn up.
- Parents may feel free to contact Mary at the school and arrange for an appointment to meet her.
Synonyms
meeting, engagement, interview, arrangement, consultation, session;
date, rendezvous, assignation, tweetup;
commitment, fixture
literary tryst
2An act of assigning a job or position to someone: his appointment as President...
- And he then made a series of more or less statesmanlike appointments to senior positions.
- This was his first visit to Bulgaria after his recent appointment to the position.
- Moreover, when his appointments to the key positions of Secretary of State, National Security Adviser and Defence Secretary are examined, a clearer picture emerges.
Synonyms
nomination, naming, designation, designating, installation, commissioning, engagement, adoption, co-option;
selection, choosing, election, voting in;
Military detailing
2.1A job or position: she took up an appointment as head of communications...
- Many institutions have converted full-time appointments to positions held by part-time faculty or graduate assistants.
- And then I thought of that notion when it came to jobs, professorships, corporate board appointments.
- He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1927, and held many offices and appointments in professional and academic bodies.
Synonyms
job, post, position, situation, employment, engagement, place, office, station
2.2A person appointed to a job or position: government ministers and other political appointments are frequently replaced...
- The vast majority of the advisers are not civil servants, but political appointments hand-picked by ministers.
- Published papers are also distributed to selected appointments, so your work has a good chance of reaching the right eyes.
- The news comes in the wake of a national survey that found that one in five new secondary school appointments are rated as unsatisfactory by headteachers.
3 (appointments) Furniture or fittings: the room was spartan in its appointments...
- The decor is unmistakably high class with the fixtures, fittings and appointments setting a relaxed yet cultured atmosphere.
- In her update of Olympia, entitled Tribeca, an older, clothed woman and a naked young man of Asian descent sit in a loft space furnished with modern appointments.
- The table appointments are also of very high quality, with the black and silver chopsticks being exceptional.
Phrases
by appointment
by appointment to the Queen
power of appointment
Origin
Middle English: from Old French apointement, from apointer (see appoint).