vis-à-vis

      English

      WOTD – 14 November 2008    

      Etymology

      From French vis-à-vis (“face-to-face”).

      Pronunciation

      • (UK) IPA: /viːz.ɑːˈviː/, /viːz.æˈviː/
      • (US) IPA: /viz.ɑˈvi/, /viz.əˈvi/
      • Audio (US)
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      Preposition

      vis-à-vis

      1. In relation to; compared with;
        Canada's role vis-à-vis the United States' in Afghanistan
      2. Opposite, across from, set so as to be facing.
        He was seated vis-à-vis the president.

      Translations

      in relation to
      opposite
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      Wikipedia

      Noun

      vis-à-vis (plural vis-à-vis)

      1. (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
      2. A sofa with seats for two people, so arranged that the occupants are face to face while sitting on opposite sides.
      3. 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.
      4. A date or escort in a social event.
        Have you seen Mary's vis-à-vis before?
      5. A person holding a corresponding position in another organisation; a counterpart.
        I talked with my vis-à-vis in the French embassy.

      Translations

      carriage for two
      person facing another
      date
      counterpart — see counterpart

      Adjective

      Nero vis-à-vis Agrippina.

      vis-à-vis (not comparable)

      1. face-to-face
      2. in relation to
      3. (numismatics, of a coin) having two portraits facing each other

      Translations

      face-to-face — see face-to-face

      Adverb

      vis-à-vis (not comparable)

      1. face to face (with another)
      2. (archaic) In a position facing a specified or implied subject.

      Translations

      face to face
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      French

      Etymology

      vis +‎ à +‎ vis, vis being an obsolete word form face, replaced in Modern French by visage.

      Pronunciation

      Adverb

      vis-à-vis

      1. (archaic) Facing, face-to-face.

      Synonyms

      • face à face

      Noun

      vis-à-vis m (plural vis-à-vis)

      1. A meeting, especially a private one.
      2. A position where two things face each other.
        Les maisons sont en vis-à-vis. The houses face each other.
      3. 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"?
      4. (rare) What faces someone or something, such as a view or the person seated in front.
      5. (historical) A type of S-shaped couch or sofa that allows people to be seated face-to-face.

      Synonyms

      Derived terms

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      German

      Alternative forms

      Etymology

      From French vis-à-vis (“face-to-face”).

      Preposition

      vis-à-vis

      1. vis-à-vis

      Synonyms

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      Last modified on 17 June 2013, at 10:48