Standard Lemma guide

rapprochement

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɹəˈpɹɒʃmɒ̃/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɹæ-/
  • General-American: /ɹæpɹoʊʃˈmɑn/
  • General-American: /-ˈmɑ̃/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: R AE2 P R OW2 SH M AA1 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The reestablishment of cordial relations, particularly between two countries; a reconciliation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • It was the Nixon administration that saw the rapprochement between the United States and China.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the reestablishing of cordial relations

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: reconciliation

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: cooperation

History

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French rapprochement (“act or process of getting closer together; link (between two things)”).

Across languages

Translations

27 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 和解 (héjiě) — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Chinese Mandarin: 修好 (xiūhǎo) — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Finnish: lähentyminen — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • French: rapprochement — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Galician: reconciliación — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • German: Annäherung — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • German: Wiederannäherung — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Greek: προσέγγιση (proséngisi) — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Ido: proximesko — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Italian: ravvicinamento — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Italian: riavvicinamento — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Japanese: 和解 — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Korean: 화해 (hwahae) — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Māori: rongo-ā-marae — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Polish: odnowienie przyjaźni — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Polish: pojednanie — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Portuguese: aproximação — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Portuguese: reaproximação — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Portuguese: reatamento — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Russian: примире́ние (primirénije) — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Russian: сближе́ние (sbližénije) — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Spanish: acercamiento — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Spanish: reconciliación — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Thai: การทอดไมตรี — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Vietnamese: hòa giải — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Welsh: nesâd — reestablishment of cordial relations
  • Zulu: ukubuyisana n. ukuthelelena amanzi — reestablishment of cordial relations