render

Formsrenders, rendering, rendered

Pluralrenders

1. 1
   cause to beverb

   To cause someone or something to be in a particular state or condition.

   A single clerical error can render the entire contract invalid.

   The storm rendered thousands of homes uninhabitable overnight.

   UsageObject, then adjective: render something useless, render someone unable to walk; often passive: rendered homeless.

   Similarmake, leave

   Note

   The passive is common, as in W. B. Maxwell's The Mirror and the Lamp (1918), where a crowded parish is "rendered airless." Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • W. B. Maxwell wrote The Mirror and the Lamp, published in 1918. en.wikisource.org
   • The novel describes a densely packed parish as rendered airless by factory walls. en.wiktionary.org
2. 2
   make computer imageverbtransitive

   To transform a digital model into an image displayed on a screen or other media.

   The artist rendered the 3D model as a photorealistic image.

   Powerful graphics cards can render complex scenes in real time.

   Similargenerate, produce

   Note

   Graphics work has two main stages: first the model is built, then it is rendered. Rendering means computing the picture a viewer actually sees, with geometry, lighting, texture and depth resolved for every pixel. Nintendo Power in 2007 could describe video backgrounds that behave "as if rendered in 3-D." The finished output has its own name: the image called a render. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • Modeling and rendering are parts of a larger workflow, which also includes preparing surfaces, arranging the scene, and lighting it; animation introduces further steps. sciencebehindpixar.org
   • Rendering computes a visible image from scene data by determining pixel colors. sciencebehindpixar.org
   • Nintendo Power used the quoted wording about video backgrounds in 2007. en.wiktionary.org
3. 3
   verbtransitive

   To give, provide, or deliver something to someone, such as help, a service, or a payment that is due, or to give something back; especially, to formally deliver a verdict, judgment, or decision.

   The committee will render its verdict next week.

   Two off-duty nurses rendered first aid to the injured cyclist until the ambulance arrived.

   UsageTypical objects: render a verdict, render a service, render aid. Receiver patterns include render aid to someone and render someone a service.

   Similardeliver, give, provide, administer, offer

   Oppositewithhold

   Note

   In 1725 Isaac Watts has logic that "renders its daily service to wisdom," and the AA Book of British Villages (1980) praises a goat that renders valuable service keeping a churchyard tidy.

4. 4
   translateverbtransitive

   To translate something from one language into another.

   The translator rendered the old Latin letters into clear, modern English.

   Good translators render idioms without losing their flavor.

   UsageUsually render something into another language.

   Similartranslate

5. 5
   verbtransitive

   To interpret a work, giving it a particular performance or version.

   The choir rendered the hymn with surprising tenderness.

   Few actors can render Hamlet's grief so convincingly.

   Similarperform, interpret, portray, deliver, execute

6. 6
   nouncountable

   An image created by a computer from a digital model.

   The client approved the final render before construction began.

   Each render took several hours to produce on the studio's machines.

   Similarvisualization

7. 7
   verbtransitive

   To apply realistic coloring and shading to an image or drawing.

   The student rendered the still life with careful attention to light and shadow.

   Artists who render skin convincingly study how light passes through it.

   Similardepict, portray, draw, paint, shade

   Note

   Illustrators use it for the stage after the outline, when tone is built up through highlights, core shadows and reflected light until a flat drawing reads as solid form and material. A sketch is drawn; a finished study is rendered. It shares the aim of a convincing picture with the computer-graphics sense, but here the shading is done by hand. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • Artists use highlights, core shadows and reflected light to define form. pressbooks.palomar.edu
   • Tonal shading can make a flat drawing convincingly represent solid form and material. en.wikipedia.org
   • Producing convincing realistic pictures is also an aim of computer graphics. en.wikipedia.org
8. 8
   verbintransitive

   To melt down fat or animal tissue so that the fat separates out and can be collected, in cooking or industrially; (of fat) to melt out of meat during cooking.

   Cook the pork belly gently so the fat renders fully.

   Allow the fat to render before raising the heat.

   UsageOften the fat is the subject (let the fat render), though cooks also render fat themselves.

   Similarmelt

   Note

   Fat renders under gentle, moderate heat, which lets it liquefy and separate from the muscle. On an industrial scale, the same melting-down turns slaughterhouse waste into tallow, lard and protein meal.

9. 9
   plaster a wallverbtransitive

   To coat a wall with a layer of plaster or cement, especially on the exterior.

   The masons rendered the exterior in a smooth lime plaster.

   You should render the wall before painting it.

   Similarplaster, stucco, coat

   Note

   Masons render a wall by applying a base coat of cement or lime plaster to the masonry, often with stucco. The coat levels and protects the surface before any finish goes on. The coating itself is called render, so a wall that has been rendered is one finished in render. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

   • Rendering can involve applying a cement- or lime-based plaster coat directly to masonry, beneath subsequent coats. home.nps.gov
   • Stucco is a material used for rendering. en.wiktionary.org
   • The applied render provides a level surface beneath a subsequent finish. en.wikipedia.org
   • Render is the name of the protective wall coating. home.nps.gov

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