appointment

From Middle French apointement (French appointement). See appoint.

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əˈpɔɪnt.mɛnt/
• (Southern American English) IPA^(key): /əˈpɔɪnt.mɪnt/, [əˈpʰɔɪ̯nʔmɪnʔ], [əˈpʰɔɪ̯̃ʔmɪnʔ]

• Audio (US)

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appointment (plural appointments)

1. The act of appointing a person to hold an office or to have a position of trust

   His appointment was deemed suitable

2. The state of being appointed to a service or office; an office to which one is appointed

   the appointment of treasurer

3. Stipulation; agreement; the act of fixing by mutual agreement.
4. An arrangement between people to meet; an engagement.

   They made an appointment to meet at six.

   I'm leaving work early because I have a doctor's appointment.

5. (religion) Decree; direction; established order or constitution.

   To submit to the divine appointments.

   • 1611, King James Version, Ezra vi. 9.

     According to the appointment of the priests.

6. (law) The exercise of the power of designating (under a power of appointment) a person to enjoy an estate or other specific property; also, the instrument by which the designation is made.
7. (government) The assignment of a person by an official to perform a duty, such as a presidential appointment of a judge to a court.
8. (now in the plural) Equipment, furniture.
   • 1910, Saki, ‘The Soul of Laploshka’, Reginald in Russia:

     The appointments were primitive, but the Schnitzel, the beer, and the cheese could not have been improved on.

9. (US) A honorary part or exercise, as an oration, etc., at a public exhibition of a college.

   to have an appointment

10. (obsolete) The allowance paid to a public officer.

• command
• designation
• direction
• equipment
• establishment
• order

• (act of appointing): dismissal

• appointment in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

• calendar
• meeting
• schedule