rendition

noun

ren·​di·​tion ren-ˈdi-shən 

plural renditions

: the act or result of rendering something: such as

a

: a performance or interpretation of something

a moving rendition of a song

a fine rendition of a classic recipe

b

: depiction

… the rusty orange color was an extremely accurate rendition of the Martian soil's appearance.

—David Savold

c

: translation

the first rendition of the text into English

d

: surrender

specifically, US law : the surrender by a state of a fugitive to another state charging the fugitive with a crime : interstate extradition

Two city residents wanted in New Jersey on gun charges are being held without bail awaiting rendition to that state.

—Andrew Amelinckx

see also extraordinary rendition

Did you know?

When a singer performs their rendition of someone else's song, or a chef adds a few twists to someone else’s recipe to concoct their own unique rendition, each is—in a sense—returning: returning to something old in order to create something new. Fittingly, the word rendition, which has been part of English since at least the early 1600s, traces back ultimately to the Latin verb reddere, meaning "to return." Reddere is also the ancestor of the English verb render, whose many meanings include "to give a performance of" and "to give up or yield." Although render took a different path from reddere than did rendition, it's perhaps no surprise that the latter fundamentally means "an act or result of rendering something," and may be applied to everything from a performance, depiction, or translation of something, to a surrender (surrender being another reddere descendent), as in "fugitives awaiting rendition to a neighboring state."

Synonyms

• version
• interpretation

Examples of rendition in a Sentence

a moving rendition of an old gospel song

a new rendition of the text in English

Recent Examples on the Web

Birds, the modern-day relatives of theropod dinosaurs, still gather at lekking sites to show off their moves — a similar, but smaller, rendition of the displays in Colorado around 100 million years ago. —Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 27 June 2025

To be released this Friday, the album also includes veterans (David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, John Hiatt, Steve Earle) and newcomers (Charley Crockett, Molly Tuttle), all collaborating with Louisiana musicians on renditions of Chenier tunes. —David Browne, Rolling Stone, 25 June 2025

Town Council members will kick off the event with a welcome, followed by a flag raising of the flag and a rendition of the national anthem. —Debby Rice, Mercury News, 24 June 2025

Toward the end of the anthem, Chenoweth, 56, held a long, opera-style high note to applause before concluding her rendition. —Taijuan Moorman, USA Today, 24 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

obsolete French, from Middle French, alteration of reddition, from Late Latin reddition-, redditio, from Latin reddere to return

First Known Use

1601, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing rendition

• extraordinary rendition

Rhymes for rendition

• addition
• admission
• ambition
• attrition
• audition
• clinician
• cognition
• coition
• commission
• condition
• contrition
• dentition

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Kids Definition

rendition

noun

ren·​di·​tion ren-ˈdish-ən 

: an act or result of rendering

sang their rendition of the old song

Legal Definition

rendition

noun

ren·​di·​tion ren-ˈdi-shən 

1

: the act or result of rendering

the Court's rendition of judgment

2

: extradition of a fugitive who has fled to another state