Word of the Day

: April 22, 2025

liaison

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noun lee-AY-zahn

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What It Means

Liaison refers to a person who helps organizations or groups work together and provide information to each other, or to a relationship that allows such interactions. Liaison can also refer to an illicit sexual relationship.

// The new position involves acting as a liaison between the police department and city schools.

// The committee has maintained close liaison with some of the former board members.

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liaison in Context

“In 2019, [Jefri] Lindo found work at Bestia, the trendy downtown restaurant. ... He flourished there, working his way up to house expeditor, acting as the key liaison between the kitchen and dining room.” — Laura Tejeda, The Los Angeles Times, 27 Feb. 2025

Did You Know?

If you took French in school, you might remember that liaison is the word for the phenomenon that causes a silent consonant at the end of one word to sound like it begins the next word when that word begins with a vowel, so that a phrase like beaux arts sounds like \boh zahr\. We can thank French for the origin of the term liaison, as well. It comes from Middle French lier, meaning “to bind or tie.” Other English senses of liaison apply it to all kinds of bonds—from binding and thickening agents used in cooking (as in “a butter and flour liaison”), to people who work to connect different groups, to the kind of secret relationship sometimes entered into by two people who are romantically attracted to one another.