1. The act of interpreting something as expressed in an artistic performance: "The musicians presented a rendition of music that the audience considered extraordinary."
2. A translation of a literary work into another language: "Henry was asked if he had read the Italian rendition of the original Shakespeare verse."
3. An explanation of something that is not immediately obvious: "Imitations are often utilized to provide a more accurate rendition of a child's intended meaning."

A rendition of information about rendition

The core meaning of "rendition" is "the act or result of rendering", taking us back to the verb "to render", which derives from the Latin rendere, meaning "to give back".

Render is a verb with many senses, but the relevant ones for us now are "to produce, hand over, surrender, or submit". The noun "rendition", which first appeared in English in the early 17th century, originally meant "the surrender of a garrison, place, or thing", a bit later including the surrender or forcible return of a person; such as, escaped slaves were often "rendered" (returned to their owners) by northern U.S. states before the Civil War.

Subsequent senses of "rendition" developed by the 19th century focused more on the "give" sense of "render", and "rendition" in the popular speech of the 20th century usually meant a musician's or a singer's "treatment" of a song.

A U.S. government term for an extra judicial procedure that sends suspects or generally suspected terrorists, to countries other than the United States for imprisonment and interrogation: The victim challenged his extraordinary rendition in the international courts, alleging extreme physical pain and confinement.

Beginning about 1995, the Central Intelligence Agency inaugurated a form of extradition sometimes referred to as extraordinary rendition, in which captured foreign terrorism suspects have been transported by the U.S. to other countries for interrogation; often involving cruel treatment.