Word
待ち合わせ
Meaning in Englishappointment
Animated kanji stroke order
Word context
What it means
待ち合わせ means a planned meeting or rendezvous where people agree to gather at a specified time and place, typically in a public or designated location.
Main meanings
- An arranged meeting in which participants commit to gather at a set time and location.
- The act or moment of waiting at the designated spot for others to arrive, often expressed as 待ち合わせ場所 or 待ち合わせ時間.
- Commonly used in casual settings to discuss plans with friends or colleagues and in signage or directions that indicate where to converge.
How to use it
Used across casual and semi-formal speech to discuss meeting plans. In everyday conversation it refers to the arrangement and the waiting period at the agreed point; in formal contexts it may be replaced by more explicit expressions like 約束 or 会う約束, with 待ち合わせ appearing mainly in informal or conversational planning.
Variants and close terms
- 待ち合わせる (machiawaseru) — to arrange a meeting
- 待ち合わせ場所 (machiawase basho) — meeting place
- 約束する (yakusoku suru) — to make an appointment
Composition
- 待つ: to wait
- 待ち: nominalized stem of 待つ
- 合う: to meet
- 合わせ: nominalized form of 合う used to form 待ち合わせ
Etymology
待ち合わせ is a native compound formed from 待つ to wait and 合う to meet; 待ち is the continuative form of 待つ and 合わせ is the ren'yōkei form of 合う used in noun formation, yielding the concept of waiting to meet.
Word class
Noun (名詞)
Related words by kanji and components
N1
待遇
taiguu
treatment, reception
N1
待望
taibou
long-expected, waiting
N1
複合
fukugou
composite, complex
N1
待ち遠しい
machidooshii
looking forward to
N1
待ち望む
machinozomu
to look anxiously for, to wait eagerly for
N1
見合い
miai
formal marriage interview
N1
見合わせる
miawaseru
to exchange glances; to postpone
N2
打合せ
uchiawase
business meeting, previous arrangement
N2
お待たせしました
omataseshimashita
Sorry to have kept you waiting