Rsvp

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. A request for a response from invited guests indicating whether they will attend an event ; a formal way to confirm participation in social gatherings ; an abbreviation derived from French meaning to "please respond" regarding attendance
2. An invitation term asking recipients to inform the host if they plan to be present ; a polite prompt to reply about joining a celebration or meeting ; a convention expressing the need for guests to confirm their arrival intentions
3. A phrase used to solicit confirmation from invitees about their presence ; a courteous demand for acknowledgment of attendance at occasions ; an acronym originating from French commanding a reply about participation in an event

Etymology: The letters stand for "répondez s'il vous plaît," French for "respond if it pleases you," a polite request to reply that has been printed on invitations for generations. The French phrase itself was the everyday courtesy of its time, so the English usage is a direct borrowing of an abbreviation rather than a translated phrase. English speakers mostly keep the letters rather than the words, so the French origin is easy to miss. The term is an initialism, meaning each letter is pronounced separately as "R-S-V-P" rather than read as a single word. Because the letters are written in capitals as "RSVP," the lowercase "rsvp" shown here is simply an alternative letter-case form of the same abbreviation.

Synonyms: respond, reply, confirm attendance

Antonyms: ignore, decline, reject