rendition

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French rendition (“a giving, surrender”),^[2][3][4][5] a French word now obsolete,^[6][7][8] which was an alteration of reddition under the influence of rendre (“to give back, render”).^[2][3][9] The older word comes from Latin redditiō (“a giving back”),^[5][9][2] from reddō (“to give back”), formed from red- (“back”) and dō (“to give”);^[9][6] Klein gives the source as Vulgar Latin *renditiō.^[10] The Middle French verb meaning to render comes from Vulgar Latin *rendō, an alteration of the Latin verb influenced by prēndō (“to grasp”).^[6] The OED compares Spanish rendición and Portuguese rendição, and the earlier English word reddition.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The surrender of a town, garrison or territory: 1601, in words of Queen Elizabeth I quoted in Fynes Moryson's Itinerary (1617).^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The OED notes that the English senses largely followed those of the verb render.^[2] From 1649, in Milton, the word was used of giving up any possession or a person to someone else,^[2] and between 1652 and 1702 also of giving something back.^[2] Johnson (1755) still defined it only as "surrendering; the act of yielding".^[11] Translation is recorded from 1653 in the OED,^[2] from 1659 in Barnhart.^[4] In law, chiefly in the United States, it meant the delivery of a judgment from 1741 and the extradition of a fugitive from 1846.^[2] The sense "performance", of a piece of music or a dramatic role, began in American English in 1851 according to the OED,^[2] by 1855 according to Etymonline.^[5] A visual representation is recorded from 1959.^[2] In 1980 the word was first used for what is now called extraordinary rendition, the transfer of a suspect to another country without formal extradition,^[2] and Collins records a verb rendition for subjecting someone to it.^[12]

Timeline

• 1601 – the surrender of a place.^[2][4]
• 1649 – the giving up of a possession or a person.^[2]
• 1652 – giving back, restoration (obsolete by 1702).^[2]
• 1653 – translation.^[2]
• 1741 – in law, the delivery of a judgment.^[2]
• 1846 – in law, extradition.^[2]
• 1851 – a performance or interpretation.^[2]
• 1959 – a visual representation.^[2]
• 1980 – extraordinary rendition.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A performance or interpretation of a piece of music, a dramatic role or the like: a moving rendition of the old ballad.^[12][3][2]
2. A translation of a text.^[12][3][2]
3. A visual representation or depiction of something.^[2]
4. The act or result of rendering.^[12][3]
5. (law, chiefly US) extradition.^[3][2]
6. Short for extraordinary rendition.^[2]
7. (law, chiefly US) The formal delivery of a judgment or verdict.^[2]
8. (archaic) The surrender of a town, garrison or territory.^[12][2][13]
9. (obsolete, 1652–1702) The giving back of something; restoration.^[2][13]

Verb

1. To subject a person to extraordinary rendition.^[12]

Word family

• nonrendition

Related words

• render
• reddition
• rendering
• rent

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
9. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press