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Would anyone be so kind as to explain to me the difference between видание and встреча?

I looked them up in various dictionaries and depending on the dictionary, both are sometimes translated either as "date" or "meeting" and sometimes they're also listed as synonyms but not always.

I found this comment to a related question which states

(встреча и свидание are almost the same thing)

which leads me to believe that there indeed must be a difference.
I would be really grateful if someone could explain how they exactly differ and when I should use which (if it matters at all).

Thank you very much and have a nice weekend!

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    Every свидание is a встреча. But not every встреча is a свидание . A свидание is a meeting involving only two people (A свидание is a встреча involving only two people).
    – Elena
    May 1, 2021 at 16:32
  • What you need is a good quality dictionary that lists usage examples, not just word to word translations. Reverso can also be of some help if you can more or less understand written Russian already. Compare: свидание and встреча. You might need to register to see more examples.
    – tum_
    May 1, 2021 at 23:10
  • встреча can be unplanned, свидание is always planned. Встреча is much wider word.
    – Anixx
    May 3, 2021 at 6:43

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"Встреча" can be as "date" or "meeting". Also, we can use this in the sense of "business meeting" or "appointment".

I can say: у меня встреча с одноклассниками. (I have a meeting with classmates).

Or: у меня встреча с моей девушкой. (I have a date with my girlfriend). It can have two meanings either date or meeting. We have to have a context here.

"Cвидание" often means "a date".

e.g.: Мы с женой каждую пятницу устраиваем романтическое свидание. (My wife and I have a romantic date every Friday.)

But the word "свидание" can mean "a meeting in prison with a prisoner". I know it's weird, but it's so.

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  • Свидание as a date sounds formal, I never hear people saying свидание in reference to their own dates.
    – Aksakal almost surely binary
    May 1, 2021 at 21:59
  • It's so pity. Which word do you use usual? Встретиться? It seems as friendzone. "Свидание" means a date... period.
    – Dmitry
    May 1, 2021 at 22:16
  • Male saying "я иду на свидание" sounds cheesy to me, more common seems "свтречаюсь с девушкой"
    – Aksakal almost surely binary
    May 1, 2021 at 23:26
  • @Aksakalalmostsurelybinary yes, of course. But I was describing nouns, not verbs. If a colleague asks you: "Встретимся после работы?". What does it mean? It depends on context. But if the colleague asks you: "На свидание пойдешь со мной?". No context needed here.
    – Dmitry
    May 2, 2021 at 9:29
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I would like to add, that "свидание" also should be used in the sense of "visiting prisoners".

For example: "Материальная помощь оказывается им в форме обеспечения бесплатного проезда и питания, когда они посещают тюрьму для свидания с заключенным.

"Material support was provided to them in the form of free transport and food when they visited the prison to see the prisoner."

Or: "Тюрьмы стремятся обеспечивать максимально благоприятный режим свиданий с заключенными в зависимости от количества посетителей в любой конкретный день."

Prisons aim to conduct security procedures at visitor receptions as quickly as possible, depending on the number of visitors on any particular day.

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