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Does “rendez-vous” mean a date in French?

In English, “rendezvous” often sounds romantic. In French, un rendez-vous is simply any appointment arranged for a set time: the dentist, the bank, a work meeting, a flat viewing. You prendre rendez-vous to book one and avoir rendez-vous à 14h. When a date is meant, speakers usually say so — un rendez-vous amoureux, or the slangier un rencard.

The word is an old imperative: rendez-vous literally tells people “take yourselves there,” from se rendre, to go somewhere. That is why it keeps its hyphen and stays unchanged in the plural — des rendez-vous. Two everyday uses: j’ai rendez-vous chez le médecin, with no article at all, and rendez-vous demain ! as a sign-off meaning “see you tomorrow.”