Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To effect or establish a liaison.
  • intransitive verb To act or serve as a liaison officer.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To form or maintain a liaison{3}.
  • intransitive verb To act as a liaison{4}.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To establish a liaison.
  • verb To act between parties with a view to reconciling differences.
  • verb To cooperate, consult and discuss in order to come to a common solution.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb act between parties with a view to reconciling differences

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Back-formation from liaison.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Back-formation from liaison, itself from French liaison ("binding"), from Latin ligatio (stem ligation-) (English ligation), derived from ligō, from Proto-Indo-European *leygʰ- (“to bind”).

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Examples

  • Swamp cyber-neighbor Justin Fox looks at rural America wonders who, exactly, is there left to "liaise" to?

    The Rural Juror - Swampland - TIME.com 2007

  • But on Tuesday, the police service gave no indication that it was in a mood to "liaise".

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1997

  • Nationalist legislation; secondly, SACTU already existed as a coordinating body for African workers and if the TUC seriously wanted to 'liaise' why had it rejected all of SACTU's offers for unity?

    4. RULING CLASS RESPONSE 1980

  • While on the one hand rejecting SACTU initiatives for workers 'unity, the TUC on the other hand attempted to' liaise 'with the very same African workers it would not accept as constitutional equals.

    4. RULING CLASS RESPONSE 1980

  • The Merriam-Webster Online states that "liaise" is an example of a "back-formation," through which a new word is extracted from another, perfectly legitimate word on the assumption that it must exist, etymologically, although it does not.

    Yankee Pot Roast 2009

  • "We liaise with the Women's Tennis Association," added Dobson, while pointing out that there have been no specific threats to players relating to their time at these championships.

    Wimbledon 2011: Serena Williams and the mystery restaurant 2011

  • As master of the hunt, the article explains, "She is responsible for the hunt's finances, must run the hunt's house, work with the huntsman with the kennels and hounds, and liaise with landowners."

    Female Firsts, Fox Hunting, and Murder By Gyrocopter 2009

  • This is what led him to liaise and to establish relationships with Martin Luther King, Jr., and both Robert Kennedy and Jack Kennedy.

    Lisa Ellis: Sing Your Song Lisa Ellis 2011

  • "We liaise with the Women's Tennis Association," added Dobson, while pointing out that there have been no specific threats to players relating to their time at these championships.

    Wimbledon 2011: Serena Williams and the mystery restaurant 2011

  • The planned summit trip, along with a visit to China by South Korea's nuclear envoy set for Thursday, indicates an improvement in ties, driven by the need to liaise on policy toward Pyongyang during the potentially volatile transition to new leadership in North Korea.

    South Korea's Lee Plans China Visit Se Young Lee 2011

Comments

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  • vile backformation from liaison

    November 12, 2007

  • But again, it's likely to have become current because of a need. How else do you describe the situation of checking up on someone, mainly face to face but also through other channels, including various methods of communication, for a specific purpose? I don't like the word, but if it's necessary I don't think it's vile.

    November 12, 2007

  • I don't think it's vile. I like it a lot. (Sorry sionnach.)

    November 12, 2007

  • Eew. Really?

    November 13, 2007

  • Vile. Liaise me and I will surveil your ass for a kicking-spot.

    May 28, 2009

  • Hee, well said. I almost tried to verb mosaic last night, until I realised the horror I was perpetrating and slapped myself with a stiff numbat.

    May 28, 2009

  • Sometimes only an a numbat will do.

    May 28, 2009

  • One day soon, I fear, someone will name a girlchild this. And her brother will be Liaison. But then at some point she will write her name Li-Aise or Li-Ayse or Li-Ayze, with hearts over the eyes.

    May 28, 2009

  • I'm officially a liaison, but I don't use this word. It sits in the snake-oil section of my mental shelf.

    May 29, 2009

  • When, as a college librarian, I agreed to serve as a link between the library and the faculty, I did not know that my job description would include the function "liaise with the faculty." This definitely did not sound like something I wanted to do.

    August 1, 2010