Alliance

//əˈlaɪ.əns// name, noun, verb

name, noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The state of being allied. uncountable
  2. 2
    the act of forming an alliance or confederation wordnet
  3. 3
    The act of allying or uniting. countable
  4. 4
    a formal agreement establishing an association or alliance between nations or other groups to achieve a particular aim wordnet
  5. 5
    A union or connection of interests between families, states, parties, etc., especially between families by marriage and states by compact, treaty, or league. countable

    "matrimonial alliances"

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  1. 6
    an organization of people (or countries) involved in a pact or treaty wordnet
  2. 7
    A union or connection of interests between families, states, parties, etc., especially between families by marriage and states by compact, treaty, or league.; Marriage. India, countable, dated, uncountable
  3. 8
    a connection based on kinship or marriage or common interest wordnet
  4. 9
    Any union resembling that of families or states; union by relationship in qualities; affinity. countable

    "And as for kindred , there is no Alliance neerer vnto any one, than their Countrey , that is to be vnto vs another God, and our prime and deareſt Parent."

  5. 10
    the state of being allied or confederated wordnet
  6. 11
    The persons or parties allied. countable, uncountable
  7. 12
    Synonym of cohort (“group of orders of organisms”). countable, dated, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To connect or unite by alliance; to ally. obsolete
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A former unincorporated community in Humboldt County, California, United States, now incorporated into the city of Arcata.
  2. 2
    An unincorporated community in Madison County, Indiana, United States.
  3. 3
    A city, the county seat of Box Butte County, Nebraska, United States.
  4. 4
    A town in Pamlico County, North Carolina, United States.
  5. 5
    A city situated mostly in Stark County, Ohio, United States.
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  1. 6
    A master planned community in Denton County and Tarrant County, Texas, United States.
  2. 7
    A village in central Alberta, Canada.
  3. 8
    A town in Suriname, on the banks of the Suriname River.
  4. 9
    Ellipsis of Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. Northern-Ireland, abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
  5. 10
    The alliance in the 1980s between the SDP and the Liberal Party, precursor of the Liberal Democrats. UK, historical

Synonyms

All synonyms
bundcoalitioncoalitionconfederationconfederationconnection

Example

More examples

"Japan entered into an alliance with France just before the war."

Etymology

From Middle English alliaunce, from Old French aliance (French alliance). Equivalent to ally + -ance. Compare with Doric Greek ἁλία (halía, “assembly”).

Related phrases

Blue-Green allianceGrand Allianceairline alliancegay-straight allianceoffensive and defensive alliancequasi-alliancered-green alliancered-green-brown allianceunholy alliancebox butte countycounty seatdenton county

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.