liaison

Etymology

It is borrowed from French liaison (“a union, a binding together”),^[2][3][4][5] from lier (“to bind”),^[6][5][7][8] itself from Latin ligō (“to bind”).^[5][9] The French noun, recorded from the 13th century,^[3] continues Late Latin ligātiō (“a binding”),^{[2][3][4][10]} a noun of action from the same Latin verb;^[2][3] Merriam-Webster instead analyses it as lier with the suffix -aison.^[6] Etymonline traces the Latin verb to Proto-Indo-European *leig- (“to tie, bind”).^[3] ligation is a doublet, taken directly from the Latin.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A thickening for sauces, or the process of thickening them, in cookery: before 1648 according to Barnhart and Merriam-Webster,^[4][6] and before 1665 in Kenelm Digby's Closet Opened according to the OED.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From the cookery term, a binding of a sauce, the word spread in the early 19th century to any close connection: between persons or groups from 1809,^[2][4] and, in Byron, between lovers, especially an illicit affair (1816).^[2][4][3] Barnhart dates Byron's use to his Don Juan (1821).^[4] The military sense, cooperation between units or allies during a campaign, is recorded from 1816,^[2][3] and gave liaison officer (1915), from which the word also came to mean the person responsible for such contact.^[3][11] The phonetic sense, the sounding of a normally silent final consonant before a vowel, as in French, dates from 1884.^[2][5] The verb liaise is a back-formation, in military use from 1928.^[4][12]

Timeline

• before 1648 – a thickening for sauces.^[4][6]
• 1809 – a close relation or connection.^[2][4]
• 1816 – an illicit love affair.^[2]
• 1816 – military cooperation between units or allies.^[2][3]
• 1884 – in phonetics, the linking of a final consonant to a following vowel.^[2]
• 1915 – liaison officer.^[3]
• 1928 – the verb liaise, a back-formation.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Communication and cooperation between groups, organizations or units: The school works in close liaison with local employers.^[9][5][6]
2. A person who keeps such contact between groups; an intermediary.^[9][6]
3. Contact maintained between parts of an armed force to ensure unity of action.^[6][9][2]
4. A close relationship, especially a secret or adulterous love affair.^[9][5][2]
5. In phonetics, the pronunciation of a normally silent final consonant before a word beginning with a vowel, especially in French.^[9][5][2]
6. In cookery, a thickening for sauces, made chiefly of egg yolks.^[5][2]

Related words

• liaise
• ligation
• ligament
• ligature
• liable

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press