liaison

noun

li·​ai·​son lē-ˈā-ˌzän  ˈlē-ə-ˌzän 

nonstandard

ˈlā-ə- 

1

a

: communication for establishing and maintaining mutual understanding and cooperation (as between parts of a business or an armed force)

… people in the political jobs—the ones who do the liaison with Capitol Hill …

—Elizabeth Drew

b

: a person who establishes and maintains communication for mutual understanding and cooperation

a press liaison

… 85 districts … have a staff point of contact for military students and families. This person serves as the primary liaison between them and the school.

—John Benson

2

a

: a close bond or connection : interrelationship

The agencies have maintained a close liaison.

Their contact developed into … an active liaison between the two … forces.

—Connaught (Ireland) Telegraph

b

: an illicit sexual relationship : affair sense 3a

a romantic liaison

He does begin to take an interest in her as their sexual liaison develops …

—Cristina Nehring

3

: a binding or thickening agent used in cooking

a butter and flour liaison

4

: the pronunciation of an otherwise absent consonant sound at the end of the first of two consecutive words the second of which begins with a vowel sound and follows without pause

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.

Synonyms of liaison

• relationship
• kinship
• association
• connection

Examples of liaison in a Sentence

Today's army works on rotations; soldiers are deployed for about a year and then (in principle at least) they come home. When that happens, local liaisons and intelligence relationships must be rebuilt. —James K. Galbraith, Mother Jones, March/April 2006

I had known Korologos when I was Solicitor General, and he was the Nixon White House's liaison to the Senate. He was a great support. —Robert H. Bork, The Tempting of America, 1990

Gossip columnists began to infer from Evelyn's disappearances that she was engaging in reckless liaisons, and her name was linked with dozens of men around town. —E. L. Doctorow, Ragtime, (1974) 1975

She acts as a liaison between the police department and city schools.

Administrators need to establish a close liaison with employees.

He regretted his liaison with a woman from the office.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Baton Rouge native was a political consultant and legislative liaison in his hometown before breaking into college athletics with LSU as director of external affairs in 2000 under then-chancellor and future NCAA president Mark Emmert. —The Athletic Staff, New York Times, 31 Oct. 2025

The government established a liaison office at the prime minister’s office to coordinate the response. —Gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025

Regardless, at least at the time of publication, Ingrassia remains the White House’s liaison with the Department of Homeland Security after being moved in February from the Department of Justice following problems with Attorney General Pam Bondi’s chief of staff. —Naomi Lim, The Washington Examiner, 23 Oct. 2025

Mingshu Bates, chief analytics officer and president of parcel at AFS, said that shippers and logistics liaisons should expect to see the fees and surcharges to continue. —Meghan Hall, Sourcing Journal, 23 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

French, from Middle French, from lier, from Old French

First Known Use

circa 1665, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Rhymes for liaison

• aileron
• antiphon
• autobahn
• carillon
• castellan
• celadon
• cephalon
• chitosan
• cynodon
• denouement
• deuteron
• echelon

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Kids Definition

liaison

noun

li·​ai·​son ˈlē-ə-ˌzän  lē-ˈā- 

1

: a close connection

2

: communication especially between parts of an armed force

3

: a person who sets up or keeps up liaison