vis-à-vis
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
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Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From French vis-à-vis 'face to face'.
[edit] Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA: /vi:z.ɑːˈvi:/, /vi:z.æˈvi:/
- (US) IPA: /viz.ɑˈvi/, /viz.əˈvi/
- Audio (US)help, file, Audio (US)help, file
[edit] Preposition
vis-à-vis
- In relation to; compared with;
- Canada's role vis-à-vis the United States' in Afghanistan
- Opposite, across from, set so as to be facing.
- He was seated vis-à-vis the president.
[edit] Translations
in relation to
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opposite
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[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
vis-à-vis (plural vis-à-vis)
- (historical) A small horse-drawn carriage for two people sitting facing each other.
- 1761, Laurence Sterne, The Life & Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, vol. 3, Penguin 2003, p. 188:
- there is not a greater difference between a single-horse chair and madam Pompadour’s vis a vis, than betwixt a single amour, and an amour thus nobly doubled
- 1761, Laurence Sterne, The Life & Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, vol. 3, Penguin 2003, p. 188:
- One of two (or more) people facing or opposite each other during a formal dance, at a dinner table etc.
- 1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘The Daughter of the Regiment’, Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio Society 2005, p. 136:
- That was what Miss McKenna said, and the Sergeant who was my vis-à-vis looked the same thing.
- 1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘The Daughter of the Regiment’, Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio Society 2005, p. 136:
- A date or escort in a social event.
- Have you seen Mary's vis-à-vis before?
- A person holding a corresponding position in another organisation; a counterpart.
- I talked with my vis-à-vis in the French embassy.
[edit] Translations
carriage for two
date
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counterpart — see counterpart
[edit] Adjective
vis-à-vis (not comparable)
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Positive |
Superlative |
[edit] Translations
face-to-face — see face-to-face
[edit] Adverb
vis-à-vis
- face to face (with another)
- (archaic) In a position facing a specified or implied subject.
[edit] Translations
face to face
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[edit] French
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /vizavi/
[edit] Adverb
- (archaic) Facing, face-to-face.
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Noun
vis-à-vis m. (plural vis-à-vis)
- A meeting, especially a private one.
- A position where two things face each others.
- Les maisons sont en vis-à-vis. The houses face each other.
- An equivalent.
- 1886, Auguste Villiers de L’Isle-Adam, L'Ève future, XVII. Dissection,
- Quoi de plus attristant, de plus dissolvant que l’abominable être qu’on nomme une « femme d’esprit », si ce n’est son vis-à-vis, le beau parleur ? What is worse, more dissolving than this abomination called the "spiritual woman", if not its equivalent, the "beau parleur"?
- 1886, Auguste Villiers de L’Isle-Adam, L'Ève future, XVII. Dissection,
- (rare) What faces someone or something, such as a view or the person seated in front.
- (historical) A type of S-shaped couch or sofa that allows people to be seated face-to-face.
[edit] Synonyms
- (meeting): tête-à-tête
- (equivalent): homologue
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] German
[edit] Alternative spellings
[edit] Preposition
vis-à-vis
[edit] Synonyms
Categories: Word of the day archive | French derivations | English prepositions | English nouns | History | English uncomparable adjectives | English adjectives | Archaic | English words spelled with diacritics | Reduplication | French adverbs | French nouns | French masculine nouns | French plurals | Rare | German prepositions | de:French derivations

