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liaison

 - 3 dictionary results

li⋅ai⋅son

  [lee-ey-zawn, lee-uh-zon, -zuhn or, often, ley-; lee-ey-zuhn, -zon; Fr. lye-zawn]
Use liaison in a Sentence
–noun, plural -sons  [-zawnz, -zonz, -zuhnz, -zonz; Fr. -zawn] .
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. Cookery. the process of thickening sauces, soups, etc., as by the addition of eggs, cream, butter, or flour.
5. Phonetics. a speech-sound redistribution, occurring esp. in French, in which an otherwise silent final consonant is articulated as the initial sound of a following syllable that begins with a vowel or with a silent h, as the z- and n-sounds in Je suis un homme [zhuh swee zœ nawm] .
Origin:
1640–50; < F, OF < L ligātiōn- (s. of ligātiō) a binding. See ligation
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To liaison
li·ai·son   (lē'ā-zŏn', lē-ā'-)   
n.  

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

    2. One that maintains communication: served as the President's liaison with Congress.

    3. A close relationship, connection, or link.

    4. An adulterous relationship; an affair.

    1. A close relationship, connection, or link.

    2. An adulterous relationship; an affair.

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


[French, from Old French, from Latin ligātiō, ligātiōn-, from ligātus, past participle of ligāre, to bind; see ligate.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

liaison  (adj.)
1648, from Fr. liaison "a union, a binding together," from L.L. ligationem (nom. ligatio) "a binding," from L. ligatus, pp. of ligare "to bind" (see ligament). Originally a cookery term for a thickening agent for sauces. Sense of "intimate relations" is from 1806. Military sense of "cooperation between branches, allies, etc." is from 1816. Back-formed verb liaise is attested from 1928. The noun meaning "one who is concerned with liaison of units, etc." is short for liaison officer.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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