Tristynge

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Definitions

1. An appointed meeting between two people, most often lovers, held at a secret or agreed place and time
2. A prearranged rendezvous, typically a private encounter kept secret by those who take part in it
3. The act of arranging or keeping a secret appointment, usually a romantic or clandestine meeting

Etymology: In Middle English, "tristynge" is an early spelling of the verb "trysting," the act of arranging to meet at a set place and time. The modern sense of a secret or romantic meeting comes from a hunting term. A "tryst" was originally a station where a hunter stood and waited for game driven toward him, so meeting someone at a tryst meant going to a fixed spot and waiting there. The French source is uncertain. It is usually linked to Old French "triste," a hunting post, though the exact route into English and the ultimate origin of that French word are debated. The sense of an appointed meeting, detached from hunting, is what English speakers used from the later Middle Ages onward.