Etymograph

English

liaise

Liaise comes from French liaison ‘binding’, and perhaps goes back to Latin ligō ‘bind’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEligō1‘bind’uncertain
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEligātiōnem1
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentliaison2‘binding’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2020liaise2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, French liaison
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English liaise
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2020, Network News: Clas 345s finally able to serve Heathrow Airpo: “As of May 12, Crossrail was liaising with contractors…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEligōWiktionary, French liaison‘bind’uncertain
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEligātiōnemWiktionary, French liaison
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentliaisonWiktionary, English liaise‘binding’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2020liaiseWiktionary, English liaise. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2020, Network News: Clas 345s finally able to serve Heathrow Airpo: “As of May 12, Crossrail was liaising with contractors…”

Linked words

through Latin ligō ‘bind’

league, religious, religion, ally, alloy, liable, ligament, lien, ligand, ligature, religiosity, obligate, ligation, legato, 14 more

Today it means

verb To establish a liaison.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “liaise”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for French liaison. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin ligō / liaise

Shirt and support for this word