The Meaning of Liaison: What It Is and How To Use It

What is a liaison? What are the various definitions of the word liaison? Read this article to learn all about the meaning of liaison.

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What are the meanings of the word liaison, and how can they be used in a sentence? This article will detail all of the definitions of liaison, translations, synonyms and antonyms, etymology, and sentence examples. 

Keep reading this article to learn more about liaisons!

What Does the Word Liaison Mean?

According to Collins English Dictionary, a liaison is a person or thing connecting groups or people. The pronunciation of the word liaison is liˈeɪ zən, -zənz.

In phonetics and linguistics, a liaison is a type of speech-sound redistribution. In a liaison, the pronunciation of a final consonant at the end of a word that would usually be a silent consonant is used as the initial sound of the following syllable in the next word. This only occurs if the second word starts with a vowel sound. This is found in the phonology of several languages, such as French. 

Liaison can also refer to an illicit sexual relationship or adulterous sexual relationship. Liaison is also used as a cookery term meaning the technique of thickening liquids like soups and sauces with the addition of eggs, egg yolks, butter, cream, or flour. 

Finally, liaisons are also the means of communication strategies between military units in America.

What Is the Origin of Liaison?

According to Dictionary, the word liaison (ˈli əˌzɒn) has been used since 7th century Middle English and comes from the Middle French lier. This word has roots in the Old French, as well as the Latin ligātiōn, which is a stem of the Latin ligātiō. These words mean a binding. 

The Latin ligāre and its past participle also give us words like litigation and are have Proto-Indo-European roots.

How Can Liaison Be Used in a Sentence?

Liaison can be used in several ways in sentences. Learning a word’s definition is useful, but it is even more useful to know how to use that word in a sentence. 

By studying the below example sentences containing the word liaison, you can learn how to use it yourself:

The supervisor in upper-level management decided to take on a liaison role between private organizations and local governments. She helped them find a unity of purpose.

The man was a liaison between the police department and city schools to try and prevent drug use in kids and teens. 

The politician had a romantic meeting with his secret liaison, who was one of his interns. It was posted on Twitter and Facebook, and a scandal about the internship erupted.

He acted as a liaison between different units of an organization that provided resources to schools like Princeton University.

What Are Translations of Liaison?

A liaison is not just a concept in English; liaisons exist all around the world! Different languages simply have different ways to refer to liaisons. 

By studying this list of translations from Nice Translator, you can learn how to communicate about liaisons in several languages. How many of these translations of liaison do you already know?

  • Malayalam: കെട്ടുപാട്
  • Catalan: enllaç
  • Amharic: አገናኝ
  • French: liaison
  • Russian: связь
  • Korean: 연락
  • Bulgarian: връзка
  • Indonesian: hubungan
  • Lithuanian: Ryšiai
  • Vietnamese: sự liên lạc
  • Czech: spojení
  • Portuguese (Portugal): ligação
  • Romanian: legătură
  • Swedish: förbindelse
  • Greek: σύνδεσμος
  • Thai: การประสานงาน
  • Hungarian: összeköttetés
  • Spanish: enlace
  • Telugu: అనుబంధం
  • Polish: łączność
  • Italian: collegamento
  • Gujarati: સંપર્ક
  • Filipino: pag-uugnayan
  • Swahili: Uhusiano
  • Welsh: nghyswllt
  • Finnish: yhteys
  • Arabic: اتصال
  • Turkish: irtibat
  • German: Liaison
  • Estonian: kontakt
  • Latvian: sakars
  • Hebrew: קֶשֶׁר
  • Danish: Forbindelse
  • Chinese (Taiwan): 聯絡
  • Slovenian: Liaint
  • Norwegian: liaison
  • Serbian: везати се
  • Marathi: लियसन
  • Chinese (PRC): 联络
  • Tamil: தொடர்பு
  • Croatian: veza
  • Malay: Perhubungan
  • Basque: lotura
  • Hindi: मेल जोल
  • Kannada: ಸಂಪರ್ಕ
  • Icelandic: samband við
  • Japanese: 連絡先
  • Dutch: liaison
  • Slovak: spojenie
  • Portuguese (Brazil): ligação
  • Urdu: رابطہ
  • Bengali: মৈত্রী
  • Ukrainian: зв’язок

What Are Synonyms of the Word Liaison?

The word liaison can have certain connotations regarding sexual relations, so it is not always appropriate to use it in every situation. In situations where it could be seem like liaison could accidentally be used in a sexual nature, you can opt to use a synonym of a liaison from Power Thesaurus instead.

  • adultery
  • affair
  • affair of the heart
  • affaire
  • affaire de coeur
  • affairs
  • affiliation
  • agent
  • amour
  • association
  • attachment
  • bond
  • broker
  • communication
  • connection
  • contact
  • contacts
  • cooperation
  • cuckoldry
  • dalliance
  • entanglement
  • envoy
  • fling
  • flirtation
  • go-between
  • hanky-panky
  • hookup
  • illicit love
  • infidelity
  • intercessor
  • intermediary
  • intimacy
  • intrigue
  • involvement
  • liaise
  • link
  • linkage
  • linkup
  • love
  • love affair
  • mediator
  • middleman
  • relation
  • relationship
  • representative
  • romance
  • tie
  • tie-up
  • touch
  • tryst
  • unfaithfulness

What Are Antonyms of the Word Liaison?

If you are trying to refer to someone or something opposite of a liaison, you can use an antonym from Power Thesaurus. By studying antonyms of liaison, you can also quickly and easily grow your current vocabulary exponentially. 

  • alienation
  • break
  • cessation
  • cleavage
  • demarcation
  • detaching
  • detachment
  • detachments
  • disaffiliation
  • disarticulation
  • disassociation
  • disconnect
  • disconnected
  • disconnectedness
  • disconnecting
  • disconnection
  • disconnects
  • discontinuities
  • discontinuity
  • disengagement
  • disengagements
  • disjointedness
  • disjunction
  • disjuncture
  • dislocation
  • disruption
  • dissociation
  • dissolution
  • disunion
  • disunity
  • division
  • divorce
  • divorcement
  • gulf
  • inapplicability
  • incoherence
  • interruption
  • intrusion
  • isolation
  • luxation
  • outage
  • paranoia
  • parting
  • partition
  • release
  • segregation
  • separateness
  • separating
  • separation
  • separations
  • severance
  • split
  • uncoupling
  • unhinging
  • withdrawal

Conclusion

Liaison has several meanings. This word is often used to refer to a connection between different groups or organizations. It can also be used in cooking, to refer to a sexual affair, or in phonetics.

Sources:

  1. Liaison synonyms – 826 Words and Phrases for Liaison | Power Thesaurus 
  2. Liaison antonyms – 215 Opposites of Liaison | Power Thesaurus
  3. Liaison Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com  
  4. Liaison definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary 
  5. Liaison | Nice Translator