Definition

1. Verb:
   • To provide or give something: To hand over, deliver, or submit something, often as a payment, service, or judgment.
   • To cause to become or make: To bring something into a specified state or condition.
   • To represent, depict, or perform: To portray something artistically through words, music, or visual art, or to execute a performance.
   • To translate or express in another language or form: To convert words or ideas from one language or medium into another.
   • To melt down or process: To extract a substance, especially fat, by heating.

Usage

The verb render is used in formal, technical, and artistic contexts. It often implies a transformation, a formal act of giving, or a specific process of making. - It is commonly followed by a direct object and an object complement (e.g., render something useless). - In artistic contexts, it is used with works of art, music, or translation. - In technical contexts, it refers to processing materials or generating computer graphics.

Examples

• To provide or give:
  • The jury will render its verdict tomorrow.
  • He rendered assistance to the victims.
• To cause to become:
  • The storm rendered the roads impassable.
  • The shocking news rendered her speechless.
• To represent or perform:
  • The artist rendered the landscape with great skill.
  • She rendered the aria beautifully.
• To translate:
  • It is difficult to render this idiom accurately into another language.
• To melt down:
  • They render fat to make soap.

Advanced Usage

• Render an account: To provide a detailed report or explanation.
  • The manager must render an account of the project's expenses.
• Render a service: To do a helpful act or favor.
  • He rendered a great service to the community with his volunteer work.
• Render unto Caesar...: A biblical phrase meaning to give what is due to authority. Often used figuratively.
  • We must render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's—in this case, paying our taxes.

Variants and Related Words

• Rendering (noun): A performance, interpretation, or translation. Also, a coat of plaster applied to a wall.
  • His rendering of the song was very emotional.
  • The wall needed a new rendering of cement.
• Renderer (noun): A person or thing that renders, especially a computer program that generates images from models.
• Renderable (adjective): Capable of being rendered.

Synonyms

• Provide: To make available for use; supply.
• Deliver: To bring and hand over.
• Make: To cause to be or become.
• Depict: To represent by a drawing, painting, or other art form.
• Translate: To express the sense of words in another language.

Phrasal Verbs / Related Phrases

• Render down: To melt fat in order to purify it or separate it.
  • First, you need to render down the lard.
• Render up (archaic/literary): To surrender or hand over.
  • The garrison was forced to render up the fortress.

Idioms

• Render assistance/help/aid: To give help.
  • The government pledged to render assistance to the flooded region.
• Render someone helpless/speechless/etc.: To cause someone to be in a particular state.
  • His generosity rendered me speechless.

Noun

1. a substance similar to stucco but exclusively applied to masonry walls

Verb

1. melt (fat or lard) in order to separate out impurities
   • try the yak butter
   • render fat in a casserole
2. restate (words) from one language into another language
   • I have to translate when my in-laws from Austria visit the U.S.
   • Can you interpret the speech of the visiting dignitaries?
   • She rendered the French poem into English
   • He translates for the U.N.
3. bestow
   • give homage
   • render thanks
4. coat with plastic or cement
   • render the brick walls in the den
5. show in, or as in, a picture
   • This scene depicts country life
   • the face of the child is rendered with much tenderness in this painting
6. to surrender someone or something to another
   • the guard delivered the criminal to the police
   • render up the prisoners
   • render the town to the enemy
   • fork over the money
7. give back
   • render money
8. make over as a return
   • They had to render the estate
9. pass down
   • render a verdict
   • deliver a judgment
10. give or supply
    • The cow brings in 5 liters of milk
    • This year's crop yielded 1,000 bushels of corn
    • The estate renders some revenue for the family
11. give an interpretation or rendition of
    • The pianist rendered the Beethoven sonata beautifully
12. give something useful or necessary to
    • We provided the room with an electrical heater
13. cause to become
    • The shot rendered her immobile