French word

vis-à-vis

Pronunciation

IPA/vizavi/

Meaning

  • prepositionregarding

Example

Ils ont des questions vis-à-vis du budget.

They have questions regarding the budget.

Illustration for vis-à-vis (regarding)

More examples

Je me suis assis vis-à-vis de lui.

I sat across from him.

Core concept

A face-to-face alignment that frames one thing in relation to another.

Common phrases

  • vis-à-vis du

    across from

  • vis-à-vis de la

    across from

Similar words

par rapport à: Shows a connection to another matter or circumstance.
à propos de: Introduces the topic or content being discussed.
envers: Shows an attitude or feeling toward a person or organization.
face à: Indicates a physically facing position or situation.

Definition in French

Indique une relation relative entre deux éléments, traduite par «par rapport à», et employée aussi pour dire qu'une chose se trouve en vis-à-vis d'une autre.

Word origin

French vis-à-vis comes from Old French vis, 'face', in a face-to-face expression linked by à; its spatial meaning later extended to relations.

Usage tips

  • In the relational sense, vis-à-vis is normally followed by de, as in vis-à-vis du budget, rather than directly by a noun.

Other meanings

  • face-to-faceadverb
  • counterpartnoun

Opposites

  • à l'opposé deacross frompreposition

Word lists with this word