- liaison
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/lee'ay zawonn", lee"euh zon', -zeuhn/ or, often, /lay"-; lee ay"zeuhn, -zon/; Fr. /lye zawonn"/, n., pl. liaisons /-zawonnz", -zonz', -zeuhnz, -zonz/; Fr. /-zawonn"/.1. the contact or connection maintained by communications between units of the armed forces or of any other organization in order to ensure concerted action, cooperation, etc.2. a person who initiates and maintains such a contact or connection.3. an illicit sexual relationship.4. Cookery. the process of thickening sauces, soups, etc., as by the addition of eggs, cream, butter, or flour.5. Phonet. a speech-sound redistribution, occurring esp. in French, in which an otherwise silent final consonant is articulated as the initial sound of a following syllable that begins with a vowel or with a silent h, as the z- and n-sounds in Je suis un homme /zheu swee zue nawm"/.[1640-50; < F, OF < L ligation- (s. of ligatio) a binding. See LIGATION]
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Universalium. 2010.