An arrangement for a meeting at a designated time. In common use, it refers to a scheduled engagement or the act of scheduling such a meeting. The word combines the sense of an appointed time with a formal or professional context, often used in business, medical, or personal scheduling conversations.
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"I made an appointment with the dentist for next Tuesday."
"The doctor kept my appointment despite the late arrival."
"We have a telephone appointment at 3 PM to discuss the project."
"Please arrive ten minutes early for your appointment and check in at the front desk."
Appointment comes from the Old French appointement, from, in turn, late Latin appointare, from Latin ad- ‘toward’ + pensare ‘to weigh, think, consider, fix in place.’ The English sense of “to set in place” or “to fix a time and place” evolved through Medieval and Early Modern use in legal, ecclesiastical, and administrative contexts. The earliest English attestations of appoint include senses of designating or deciding on something, with “appointment” shifting to refer to the act or result of such designation. By the 15th–16th centuries, appointment increasingly referred to a scheduled time and position or role (e.g., church, government offices), and later broadened to everyday scheduling (e.g., doctor’s appointment). The word carries a formal register relative to casual meetings, and its usage expanded with modern bureaucratic and professional vocabularies, while retaining the core idea of 'fixing a time and place' via a deliberate act of appointment. First known uses appear in Middle English, with later standardization in Early Modern English texts that discuss committees, offices, and formal engagements.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "appointment" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "appointment" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "appointment"
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Pronounce as /əˈpoɪnt.mənt/ (uh-POYNT-mənt) with three syllables. Start with a schwa, then a stressed POYNT syllable, followed by a light mis of -ment. In careful speech you hear the 'oi' as a diphthong /ɔɪ/ (the /p/ and /ɪ/ quickly together). The tongue rises to a mid-high position for /ɔɪ/ and then closes for /t/ before a soft /mənt/. Tip: avoid adding an extra syllable; it’s three, not four.
Common errors: treating it as two syllables (a-ppoint-ment or ap-point-ment) instead of three; confusing /ɔɪ/ with /ɪ/ leading to ah-point-ment or appoint-ment; dropping the /t/ sound in the middle (ap-oint-ment) or slurring into /mənt/ as /məŋ/; placing the stress incorrectly on the second syllable. Correction: rehearse with three distinct syllables a-poi-nt-ment, emphasize the second syllable with /ɔɪ/ and land the /t/ clearly before /mənt/.
US/UK/AU share /əˈpoɪnt.mənt/ in broad terms, but subtle shifts exist: US often has a rhoticity in connected speech, with a lighter r-coloring and crisper final consonant; UK tends toward a non-rhotic finish, with a slightly longer vowel duration before -ment; Australian tends to flatter, with a more centralized vowel in the initial schwa and a smoother liaison into -ment. Overall, the second syllable maintains /ɔɪnt/ across accents, but rhythm and vowel length differ slightly.
The difficulty rests on three features: the diphthong /ɔɪ/ in the second syllable requires precise closing of the mouth from /ə/ to /ɔɪ/; the combination of /nt/ clusters with a light /m/ before /ənt/ can be easy to swallow or misplace when rapid; and the overall tri-syllabic rhythm with stress on the second syllable can lead to mis-stressing or blending into /əˈpɒɪnt.mənt/ in non-native phonology. Focus on a clean three-syllable sequence with clear /t/ and /m/.
A key nuance is the transition from /t/ to /m/ leading into the final /ənt/. Some speakers connect the /t/ to the following /m/ in fast speech, causing a /tm/ blend; others detach it more clearly. Aim for a clean /t/ release followed by a short, light /m/ and a reduced final /ənt/ that stays audible. Practicing the exact sequence a-poi-nt-mənt helps lock the pattern.
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