‖ vis-à-vis, n., prep., and adv.
(ˌvɪzɑːˈviː, -æ-, ˈviːz-)
Also 8 viz-a-viz, 8–9 vis-a-vis.
[F. vis-à-vis face to face, f. vis:—L. vīsum, acc. of vīsus sight, face: see vis n.1]
A. n.
1. A light carriage for two persons sitting face-to-face. Obs. exc. Hist.
| 1753 H. Walpole Let. to G. Montague 17 July, He was walking slowly..with..two pages, three footmen and a vis-à-vis following him. 1768 J. Byron Narr. Patagonia (ed. 2) 230 The common vehicle here is a calash, or kind of vis-à-vis, drawn by one mule only. 1781 W. Hayley Triumphs of Temper ii. 98 Her quick eyes sparkle with surprise to see The glories of a golden viz-a-viz. 1831 Sir J. Sinclair Corr. II. 357 It is necessary to purchase a very strong carriage... A vis-a-vis is the best shape, made so that it can be converted into a bed. 1844 Act 7 & 8 Vict. c. 91. Sched., Every horse..drawing any coach..chaise, phaeton, vis-a-vis, calash, curricle. |
| plur. 1775 F. Burney Early Diary (1889) II. 13 Not being much in town, the new vis-à-vis were not familiar to him. 1787 in Sixth Rep. Dep. Kpr. Publ. Rec. ii. 177 A new method of hanging Coaches, Vis à Viss, and other Bodies. 1802 Sporting Mag. XX. 41 The number of coaches..vis-à-vis..and nondescripts. 1834 in J. Tomlinson Doncaster (1887) 265 Mrs. Belcher for Chaises and visivis [sic]. |
2. a. One or other of two persons or things facing, or situated opposite to, each other.
| c 1757 Let. in J. H. Jesse Selwyn & Contemp. (1843) I. 158 We are reduced to Miss Wylde, who has a most charming vis-à-vis, Mr. Ward, who sings like a nightingale. 1766 G. Williams Ibid. II. 56 My vis-à-vis thinks you have done wrong to let even the music-meeting go off unattended. 1840 Hood Up Rhine 113 There you are, at an Innkeeper's ordinary, with all kinds of low company, and a common soldier for your vis-a-vis. 1865 W. G. Palgrave Arabia II. 204 Menamah, though larger in extent than Moharrek, has a less showy appearance: it is a centre of commerce, as its vis-à-vis is of government. 1893 Martin in Barrows Parl. Relig. II. 1142 Does it make no difference to us, whether we have for our vis-a-vis on the other shore of the ocean a Christian or a pagan power? |
b. esp. in dancing. Also as
pl.| 1808 Miss Berry Jrnls. & Corr. II. 371 It seems perfectly indifferent to them [the peasant men and women dancing] who is their vis-à-vis. 1834 Marryat P. Simple (1863) 231 Miss Eurydice had but a sorry partner, but she undertook to instruct me. O'Brien was our vis-à-vis with Miss Euterpe. 1841 Thackeray Gt. Hoggarty Diam. v, Lady Jane Preston..asked me to dance with her. We had my Lord Tiptoff and Lady Fanny Rakes for our vis-à-vis. 1877 M. M. Grant Sun-Maid xiv, Partners were scrambling for vis-à-vis and places. |
c. A counterpart, an opposite number.
| 1900 J. K. Jerome Three Men on Bummel xii. 273 The Vosges peasant has not the unromantic air of contented prosperity that spoils his vis-a-vis across the Rhine. 1975 Publishers Weekly 21 July 67/1 Middleton's admiration..[for the U.S. armed services] extends to their vis-à-vis, the Russian military. |
3. A meeting face to face; an encounter.
| 1867 Baker Nile Trib. ii. 41 This being my first vis-à-vis with a hippo, I was not certain whether I could claim the victory. 1871 ‘M. Legrand’ Cambr. Freshm. 345 Every minute brought him nearer the dreaded vis-à-vis with an omniscient M.A. |
B. 1. prep. Over against, in comparison with, in relation to; also
lit., facing, face to face with.
| 1755 H. Walpole Let. to R. Bentley 16 Nov., What a figure would they..make vis-à-vis his manly vivacity and dashing eloquence. 1759 Chesterfield Lett. (1792) IV. 161, I allow his army will be what you say; but what will that be vis-à-vis French, Austrians, Imperialists, Swedes, and Russians, who must amount to double that number? 1847 E. Brontë Wuthering Heights i, His master dived down to him, leaving me vis-à-vis the ruffianly bitch. 1907 Westm. Gaz. 24 July 10/1 He is responsible vis-à-vis the Government for their efficiency. |
2. a. adv. Opposite, so as to face (another or each other).
| 1807 Byron Let. in Moore Life (1830) I. 111 Even the hero of my Cornelian (who is now sitting vis-à-vis, reading a volume of my Poetics) passed me in Trinity walks. 1816 Gentl. Mag. LXXXVI. i. 6 The captivating air and fascinating manners of a French lady, who sat vis-a-vis. 1871 Nesbitt Catal. Slade Coll. Glass 75 A pair of doves are poised vis-a-vis. |
b. Const.
to or
with.
| 1814 Scott Wav. lxi, Waverley..found himself in the desired vehicle, vis-à-vis to Mrs. Nosebag. 1841 Mrs. Mozley Lost Brooch II. xx. 142 Only too well pleased to find myself once again vis a vis to Constance Duff. 1870 Disraeli Lothair xxi, Lothair was there vis-à-vis with Miss Arundel. |
Hence
vis-à-vis v.;
vis-à-visness.
| 1839 Lever H. Lorrequer vi, The hissing kettle on the hob was vis à vis'd by a gridiron with three newly-taken trout. 1887 E. Gurney Tertium Quid I. 371, I doubt whether it would involve anything like the sense of vis-à-vis-ness or parallelism, suggested to me now by such a phrase as ‘posited myself in space’. |