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• ala
  ala

  noun

  a wing.
• Ala
  Ala

  noun

  Hussein 1888–1964, Iranian statesman and diplomat: premier in 1951 and from 1955 to 1957.
• Ala.
  Ala.

  abbreviation

  Alabama.
• A.L.A.
  A.L.A.

  abbreviation

  American Library Association.

ala

¹ American  

[ey-luh] / ˈeɪ lə /

noun

alae plural

1. a wing.

2. a winglike part, process, or expansion, as of a bone, shell, seed, or stem.

3. either of the two side petals of a flower in the legume family, as the pea.

4. (in an ancient Roman house) a small room, as an alcove, opening into a larger room or courtyard.

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Ala ² American  

[ah-lah] / ˈɑ lɑ /

noun

1. Hussein 1888–1964, Iranian statesman and diplomat: premier in 1951 and from 1955 to 1957.

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Ala ³ American  

abbreviation

Biochemistry.

1. alanine.

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Ala. ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. Alabama.

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A.L.A. ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. American Library Association.

2. Associate in Liberal Arts.

3. Authors League of America.

4. Automobile Legal Association.

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ala ¹ British  

/ ˈeɪlə /

noun

1. zoology a wing or flat winglike process or structure, such as a part of some bones and cartilages

2. botany a winglike part, such as one of the wings of a sycamore seed or one of the flat petals of a sweet pea flower

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Ala. ² British  

abbreviation

1. Alabama

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• alae
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ala

1730–40; < Latin āla wing, armpit, shoulder, representing *aks-lā, derivative of same base as axis axle ( see axis ¹); see axle

Example Sentences

But if you’ve got room in the basket, go ahead and lay some onions, carrots or celery under the bird or even stuff the cavity with some halved lemons, grapes, garlic and herbs, ala Colwin.

From Salon • May 9, 2025

Once everyone in the secondary is heathy, Bryant could end up being something of jack-of-all-trades reserve, ala Ryan Neal.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 2, 2023

At the end of the event, he was asked to press his hands into a tray of butter — ala The Hollywood Walk of Fame — as part of new ad campaign “Butter Call Saul.”

From Washington Times • Feb. 2, 2023

The trailers shows students fighting zombies and what looks like a choice system ala Telltale’s The Walking Dead series.

From The Verge • Aug. 23, 2022

Pseudodiptere, ψευδής mendax, δὶς bis, and πτὲρον ala; signifies a false Diptere.

From An Abridgment of the Architecture of Vitruvius Containing a System of the Whole Works of that Author by Perrault, Claude