liaison

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li·ai·son

(lē-ā′zŏn′, lē′ā-)

a. An instance or a means of communication between different groups or units of an organization, especially in the armed forces.

b. One that maintains communication: served as the president's liaison with Congress.

2. A sexual relationship, especially when at least one person is married or involved in a sexual relationship with someone else.

3. Linguistics Pronunciation of the usually silent final consonant of a word when followed by a word beginning with a vowel, especially in French.

intr.v. li·a·soned, li·a·son·ing, li·a·sons

To serve as a liaison.

[French, from Old French, from Latin ligātiō, ligātiōn-, from ligātus, past participle of ligāre, to bind; see ligate.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

liaison

(lɪˈeɪzɒn)

1. communication and contact between groups or units

2. (modifier) of or relating to liaison between groups or units: a liaison officer.

3. a secretive or adulterous sexual relationship

4. one who acts as an agent between parties; intermediary

5. (Military) the relationship between military units necessary to ensure unity of purpose

6. (Phonetics & Phonology) (in the phonology of several languages, esp French) the pronunciation of a normally silent consonant at the end of a word immediately before another word commencing with a vowel, in such a way that the consonant is taken over as the initial sound of the following word. Liaison is seen between French ils (il) and ont (ɔ̃), to give ils ont (il zɔ̃)

7. (Cookery) any thickening for soups, sauces, etc, such as egg yolks or cream

[C17: via French from Old French, from lier to bind, from Latin ligāre]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

li•ai•son

(liˈeɪ zən, ˌli eɪˈzɔ̃; ˈli əˌzɒn or, often, ˈleɪ ə-)

n.

1. the contact or connection maintained by communications between units of the armed forces or of any other organization in order to ensure concerted action, cooperation, etc.

2. a person who initiates and maintains such a contact or connection.

3. an illicit sexual relationship.

4. a speech-sound redistribution, occurring esp. in French, in which an otherwise silent final consonant is articulated as the initial sound of a following word that begins with a vowel or silent h, as in Je suis un homme (ʒ^ə swi zœ ˈnɔm)

[1640–50; < French, Old French < Late Latin ligātiōnem, acc. of ligātiō union (Latin: stiffening). See ligation]

liaison

That contact or intercommunication maintained between elements of military forces or other agencies to ensure mutual understanding and unity of purpose and action.

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. US Department of Defense 2005.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	liaison - a usually secretive or illicit sexual relationship affaire, amour, intimacy, affair, involvement sexual relationship - a relationship involving sexual intimacy
	2.	liaison - a channel for communication between groups; "he provided a liaison with the guerrillas" inter-group communication, contact, link communication channel, channel, line - (often plural) a means of communication or access; "it must go through official channels"; "lines of communication were set up between the two firms"

liaison

noun

1. contact, communication, connection, interchange Liaison between the police and the art world is vital to combat art crime.

2. intermediary, contact, hook-up, go-between She acts as a liaison between patients and staff.

3. affair, romance, intrigue, fling, love affair, amour, entanglement, illicit romance She embarked on a series of sexual liaisons with society figures.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

عَلاقَه

spoluprácestyčnývztah

forbindelses-kontaktsamarbejde

Liaison Zusammenarbeit

enlace relación lío coordinación

liaison

samband

legame unirsi

būti ryšininkupalaikyti ryšįryšių tarnybos

sakarisakarssakaru dienesta virsniekssazināšanās

kontakt samarbeid

styčný

bağlantı ilişki

联络

liaison

[lɪˈeɪzɒn]

A. N (= coordination) → enlace m, coordinación f (fig) (= relationship) → relación f

B. CPD liaison committee N → comité m de enlace
liaison officer N → oficial mf de enlace

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

liaison

[liˈeɪzɒn] n

(= communication) → liaison f

(= relationship) → liaison f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

liaison

(= coordination) → Verbindung f, → Zusammenarbeit f; (= person) → Verbindungsmann m → /-frau f, → V-Mann m → /-Frau f (inf); (Mil) → Verbindung f; (person) → Verbindungsoffizier m

(= affair) → Liaison f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

liaison

[liːˈeɪzɒn] n (also) (euph) → relazione f; (coordination) → coordinamento (Mil) → collegamento

liaison

(liːˈeizon) , ((American) ˈli:eizon) noun

a contact or communication. liaison between parents and teachers; (also adjective) a liason officer.

liaise (liːˈeiz) verb

to communicate or make contact (with) especially as an official duty.

References in classic literature ?

Also, we gave a couple of balls--evening parties attended by Hortense and Lisette and Cleopatre, who were women remarkable both for the number of their liaisons and (though only in some cases) for their good looks.

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And I was quite right: depend on that: there are a thousand reasons why liaisons between governesses and tutors should never be tolerated a moment in any well-regulated house; firstly--"

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Vronsky's mother, on hearing of his connection, was at first pleased at it, because nothing to her mind gave such a finishing touch to a brilliant young man as a liaison in the highest society; she was pleased, too, that Madame Karenina, who had so taken her fancy, and had talked so much of her son, was, after all, just like all other pretty and well-bred women,--at least according to the Countess Vronskaya's ideas.

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However natural the liaison of a young man, like Athanase, with a handsome girl, like Suzanne, for instance, might seem in a capital, it alarms provincial parents, and destroys the hopes of marriage of a poor young man when possibly the fortune of a rich one might cause such an unfortunate antecedent to be overlooked.

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For some time George strove to keep the liaison a secret.

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The offspring of a liaison between a bald head and a bank account.

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He insisted that the prince had nothing whatever to do with Nastasia Philipovna, so far as any liaison was concerned; and, if the truth were to be told about it, he added, never had had.

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Dutocq had seen with great uneasiness what he called the liaison of des Lupeaulx with Madame Rabourdin, and his silent wrath on the subject was accumulating.

View in context

Campus liaisons serve as the bridge between their own institutions and APHA.

Campus liaisons bring visibility to APHA, Student Assembly

In the newly created position, Dr Laidlaw is responsible for the creation and activities of the company's Medical Science Liaisons (MSL) team.

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Inc names Dr Douglass H Laidlaw as director, Medical Affairs

Scherba says FEI members with prior experience as chapter leaders would be good FERF liaisons, and mentions the initiatives of past presidents of the Detroit Chapter, including Mark Rusch, Greg Ulferts and Bruce Greening.