# liaison

Pronunciation: US say "lee-AY-zahn" /liˈeɪˌzɑn/; UK say "lee-AY-zon" /liˈeɪˌzɒ̃/

## Noun

1. A person who passes information back and forth between two groups or organizations.
   - Simple: A person whose job is to pass information between two groups.
   - _She serves as the hospital's liaison to patients' families, explaining updates from the medical team._
   - _The city appointed a liaison between the police department and local business owners._
2. Communication and cooperation between people, groups or organizations so that they keep each other informed and work together.
   - Simple: Contact and working together between people or groups so that each knows what the other is doing.
   - _Poor liaison between the design and sales teams meant customers were promised features that didn't exist._
   - _The embassy maintains regular liaison with the host government through weekly briefings._
3. A secret or illicit romantic or sexual relationship, such as an affair, or a private meeting between lovers.
   - Simple: A secret love affair, or a private meeting between two lovers.
   - _The minister resigned after his liaison with an aide became public._
   - _The novel follows a string of liaisons that slowly ruin the family's reputation._

## Verb

4. To liaise: to act as a link between people or groups, keeping them in contact and informed. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: To stay in contact with another person or group and share information.
   - _"I'll liaison with legal and get back to you," the manager said in the hallway._
   - _"We liaisoned with the venue last week, so the stage is booked," she told the group._

## Other meanings

- (noun) In speech, the linking of one word to the next, especially sounding a normally silent final consonant before a word starting with a vowel, as in French.
- (noun) In cooking, an ingredient or mixture used to thicken sauces, usually made with egg yolks.

## Origin

English borrowed it from French liaison ("binding"). The French word comes from Latin ligātiō, which also gave English its doublet ligation, and that is built on ligō ("I bind"), from the Proto-Indo-European root *leyǵ- ("to bind").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/liaison (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).