lieu
n. uncountablen. the place or position of something else. It is almost always used in the phrase 'in lieu of', which means 'instead of' or 'in place of'.
n. the place or stead of something else. Primarily occurs within the fixed prepositional phrase 'in lieu of', which functions as a substitute for 'instead of'.
They gave us extra holiday in lieu of pay.
The company offered the employees stock options in lieu of a traditional cash bonus this year.
The architect suggested using recycled timber in lieu of concrete to reduce the building's carbon footprint while maintaining a warm, organic aesthetic.
Borrowed from Middle French lieu, from Old French leu, from Latin locum, accusative of locus (“place”). Doublet of locus. Attested earlier and in Middle English only as part of the partially calqued phrase in lieu of.
Almost exclusively used in the fixed phrase 'in lieu of'. In legal or formal contexts, it may also appear as 'in lieu thereof'.
in lieu toin lieu ofThe phrase 'in lieu' must be followed by the preposition 'of', not 'to'.