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vis à vis

 - 6 dictionary results

vis-à-vis

[vee-zuh-vee; Fr. vee-za-vee] adverb, adjective, preposition, noun, plural -vis [-veez; Fr. -vee] .
–adverb
1. face to face: They sat vis-à-vis at the table.
–adjective
2. face-to-face: a vis-à-vis encounter.
3. Numismatics. (of a coin) having two portraits facing each other.
–preposition
4. in relation to; compared with: income vis-à-vis expenditures.
5. facing; opposite: They were now vis-à-vis the most famous painting in the Louvre.
–noun
6. a person face to face with or situated opposite to another: He offered a cigarette to his vis-à-vis.
7. a date at a social affair: She introduced her vis-à-vis to the hostess.
8. a person of equal authority, rank, or the like: my vis-à-vis in the Louisville office.
9. a carriage in which the occupants sit face to face.
10. Furniture. tête-à-tête (def. 2).

Origin:
1745–55; < F: face to face; see visage

tête-à-tête

[teyt-uh-teyt, tet-uh-tet; Fr. te-ta-tet] noun, plural tête-à-têtes, French tête-à-tête, adjective, adverb
–noun
1. a private conversation or interview, usually between two people.
2. Also called vis-à-vis. a sofa shaped like an S so two people are able to converse face to face.
–adjective
3. of, between, or for two persons together without others.
–adverb
4. (of two persons) together in private: to sit tête-à-tête.

Origin:
1690–1700; < F: lit., head to head
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Cultural Dictionary

tête-à-tête [(tayt-uh-tayt)]

An intimate meeting or conversation between two individuals. From French, meaning “head to head.”


vis-à-vis [(vee-zuh-vee)]

Relative to; compared with: “She performed well vis-à-vis the rest of the competitors.”

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

vis-à-vis 
1753, from Fr. prepositional use of the adj. vis-à-vis "face to face," from O.Fr. vis "face" (see visage).

tête-à-tête  (n.)
1697, "a private meeting," from Fr., lit. "head-to-head," from O.Fr. teste "head" (see tester (2)). The adj., "privately," is recorded from 1728.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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