Liaison

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eɪzÉ™n
• UK IPA: /liˈeɪ.zÉ’n/, sometimes IPA: /lɑɪˈeɪ.zÉ’n/ but some speakers consider this incorrect
• US IPA: /li.ˈeɪ.zÉ‘n/

Origin

From French liaison ("binding"), from Latin ligatio (stem ligation-) (English ligation), derived from ligō (""), from Proto-Indo-European *leygʰ- ("to bind").

Full definition of liaison

Noun

1. Communication between two parties or groups.
2. Co-operation, working together.
3. A relayer of information between two forces in an army or during war.
4. A tryst, romantic meeting.
5. (figuratively) An illicit sexual relationship or affair.
6. (linguistics) The phonological fusion of two consecutive words and the manner in which this occurs, for example intrusion, consonant-vowel linking, etc. In the context of some languages, such as French, liaison can refer specifically to a normally silent final consonant, being pronounced when the next word begins with a vowel, and can often also include the intrusion of a "t" in certain fixed chunks of language such as the question form "pense-t-il".

Verb

1. (proscribed) To liaise.

Related terms

• liaise
• ligation