How to pronounce ‘Vis-à-vis ’ ?

‘Vis-a-vis’ is one of the most popular French expressions adopted by English language. It is pronounced as ‘vees-aa-vi’ ( American) and ‘vees-a-vi’ ( British) . ‘z’ is silent in second ‘viz’.  Americans spell it as ‘Viz-a-viz’. It is used as proposition, adjective, adverb and noun.



The expression is of French origin and has several meanings.  The original meaning of the term was ‘face-to-face' adapted from the name of a small two-seater carriage, used in 18th century, in which the passengers sat facing each other. 

The most popular meanings of the expression are ‘in relation to’ (Revenue vis-a-vis  expenditure ) and ‘in comparison with’  ( India’s growth vis-à-vis Brazil)