ally
/ˈæl.aɪ/ verb, noun, proper noun
Forms allies allying allied allyest allyeth Allys Allie
- verb To unite or form a connection between (people or things), as between families by marriage, or between states by confederacy, league, or treaty.
- verb Chiefly followed by to or with: to connect or form a relation to (someone or something) by similarity in features or nature.
- verb (reflexive) To join or unite (oneself or itself) against, with, etc., someone or something else.
- verb (intransitive) Chiefly followed by with: to enter into an alliance or unite for a common aim.
- noun A person who co-operates with or helps another; an associate; a friend.
- noun A person who, or organization which, supports a demographic group subject to discrimination and/or misrepresentation but is not a member of the group; specifically (LGBTQ), a person who is not a member of the LGBT+ community but is supportive of it. “I’m glad you want to be a better ally to the disabled.”
- noun A person, group, state, etc., which is associated or united by treaty with another for a common (especially military or political) purpose; a confederate. “The two countries were allies in World War I.”
- noun Something regarded as connected with or related to another thing by similarity in features or nature.
- noun (taxonomy) An organism which is related to another organism through common evolutionary origin; specifically, a species which is closely related to another species, usually within the same family. “The order of Gruiformes includes cranes and their allies.”
- noun (figuratively) A person, group, concept, etc., which is associated with another as a helper; an auxiliary; a supporter.
- noun (historical or obsolete) A kinsman or kinswoman; a relative.
- noun One's relatives; kin, kindred, relations; also, relationship through descent or marriage; kinship.
- noun People, groups, states, etc., which are associated or united with each other for a common purpose; confederates; also, the state of being allied; alliance, confederation.
- proper noun A diminutive of the female given names Alice, Alison, Alexandra, and other names beginning with Al-[[]], from the Germanic languages or Ancient Greek.
- proper noun A diminutive of the male given names Alfred, Albert, Alan, Alexander, and other names beginning with Al-[[]], from the Germanic languages, the Celtic languages, or Ancient Greek.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English allien, alien (“to form an alliance, associate, join; to become an ally; to introduce (someone) as an ally; to marry; to become related (to someone); to attack, engage in combat; to combine; (cooking) to combine ingredients, especially to bind them together”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman alier, allier, Middle French alier, allier [and other forms], and Old French alier (“to join together, unite; to alloy (metals); (cooking) to combine ingredients”) (modern French allier), from Latin alligāre, the present active infinitive of alligō, adligō (“to bind around, to, or up (something), bandage, fasten, fetter, tie; to hold fast; to detain, hinder”), from al-, ad- (intensifying prefix) + ligō (“to bind, tie; to bandage, wrap around; to unite”) (from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ- (“to bind, tie”)). Doublet of allay, alligate, alloy, and ligament.
From Middle English allie, alie [and other forms], probably partly:
* from allien (verb): see etymology 1; and
* from Anglo-Norman allié, alié, alyé, allyé, Middle French allié, alié, allyé (“associate, supporter; friend; relative; person, state, etc., associated or united with another by alliance or treaty”), and Old French alliiet (“military or political ally”) (modern French allié), a noun use of the past participle of Anglo-Norman alier, allier, Middle French alier, allier, and Old French alier (verb): see etymology 1.
See alley.
Diminutives + -y.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To unite, or form a connection between, as between families by marriage, or between princes and states by treaty, league, or confederacy; --often followed by to or with.
- verb To connect or form a relation between by similitude, resemblance, friendship, or love.
- noun A relative; a kinsman. [Obs.] Shak.
- noun One united to another by treaty or league; --usually applied to sovereigns or states; a confederate.
Etymology [OE. alien, OF. alier, F. alier, fr. L. alligare to bind to; ad + ligare to bind. Cf. Alligate, Alloy, Allay, Ligament.]
Etymology [See Ally, v.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “ally”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details