liaison

[ lee-ey-zawn, lee-uh-zon, -zuh n or, often, ley-; lee-ey-zuh n, -zon; French lye-zawn ]
/ ˌli eɪˈzɔ̃, ˈli əˌzɒn, -zən or, often, ˈleɪ-; liˈeɪ zən, -zɒn; French lyɛˈzɔ̃ /

noun, plural li·ai·sons [lee-ey-zawnz, lee-uh-zonz, -zuh nz or, often, ley-; lee-ey-zuh nz, -zonz; French lye-zawn] /ˌli eɪˈzɔ̃z, ˈli əˌzɒnz, -zənz or, often, ˈleɪ-; liˈeɪ zənz, -zɒnz; French lyɛˈzɔ̃/.

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.
a person who initiates and maintains such a contact or connection.
an illicit sexual relationship.
Cookery. the process of thickening sauces, soups, etc., as by the addition of eggs, cream, butter, or flour.
Phonetics. a speech-sound redistribution, occurring especially 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] ə swi zœ ˈnɔm/.

Origin of liaison

1640–50; < French, Old French < Latin ligātiōn- (stem of ligātiō) a binding. See ligation

Example sentences from the Web for liaison

British Dictionary definitions for liaison

liaison
/ (lɪˈeɪzɒn) /

noun

Word Origin for liaison

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