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• alliance
  alliance

  noun

  the act of allying or state of being allied.
• Alliance
  Alliance

  noun

  a city in NE Ohio.

alliance

¹ American  

[uh-lahy-uhns] / əˈlaɪ əns /

noun

• alliances
  plural

1. 

   the act of allying or state of being allied.

   Synonyms:

   affiliation, partnership, bloc, combination, coalition, association

2. a formal agreement or treaty between two or more nations to cooperate for specific purposes.

   Synonyms:

   compact, pact

3. a merging of efforts or interests by persons, families, states, or organizations.

   an alliance between church and state.

4. the persons or entities so allied.

5. marriage or the relationship created by marriage between the families of the spouses.

6. correspondence in basic characteristics; affinity.

   the alliance between logic and metaphysics.

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Alliance ² American  

[uh-lahy-uhns] / əˈlaɪ əns /

noun

1. a city in NE Ohio.

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alliance ¹ British  

/ əˈlaɪəns /

noun

1. the act of allying or state of being allied; union; confederation

2. a formal agreement or pact, esp a military one, between two or more countries to achieve a particular aim

3. the countries involved in such an agreement

4. a union between families through marriage

5. affinity or correspondence in qualities or characteristics

6. botany a taxonomic category consisting of a group of related families; subclass

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Alliance ² British  

/ əˈlaɪəns /

noun

1. 1. the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party acting or regarded as a political entity from 1981 to 1988

   2. ( as modifier )

      an Alliance candidate

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Usage

What is an alliance? An alliance is the act or state of being in a mutually beneficial relationship to work toward a common goal, as in The United States’ longest alliance is with France. Often, alliance refers to a formal agreement between nations that promise to assist each other in war, as in Germany, Italy, and Japan agreed on an alliance during World War II. Alliance can also be used more generally to refer to the people or groups that come together in a common cause, as in The invading orcs were defeated by an alliance of men, elves, and dwarves. Alliance is similar to words such as confederation, union, and league, which also refer to beneficial partnerships. Alliance is used more generally than these words, however. Example: The kids at my school formed an alliance to stop the bully from harassing us. 

Synonym Usage

Alliance, confederation, league, union all mean the joining of states for mutual benefit or to permit the joint exercise of functions. An alliance may apply to any connection entered into for mutual benefit. League usually suggests closer combination or a more definite object or purpose. Confederation applies to a permanent combination for the exercise in common of certain governmental functions. Union implies an alliance so close and permanent that the separate states or parties become essentially one.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• interalliance
  noun
• nonalliance
  noun
• prealliance
  noun
• realliance
  noun
• suballiance
  noun
• proalliance
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• alliances
  plural

Etymology

Origin of alliance

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English aliance, from Old French; equivalent to ally + -ance

Explanation

Countries that have an alliance, or agreement, help each other out when in need. That means during times of war, for example, if two countries have an alliance, one will help the other by providing weapons and supplies. An alliance doesn't just have to be between two countries; you can see alliances formed on a playground, when kids start clustering in groups or dividing themselves into teams to play tag. An alliance is essentially a connection through which a common interest is shared. A marriage is an alliance between two people who decide to share their lives together.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

alliance Alliance alliances

The alliance says the government “made the right call to better align fuel economy standards with the law and current market conditions.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

“The lesson of history is that alliance systems often prove more resilient in retrospect than contemporary observers expect at the time,” they write.

From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026

The foundation of the British-American alliance isn’t sentiment but security cooperation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

It renegotiated their alliance last year and retains only a non-exclusive license on its technology until 2032 though is OpenAI's biggest shareholder.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

Venus could not object to a goddess for her daughter-in-law; the alliance had become eminently suitable.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

However, Alliance deputy leader Eóin Tennyson welcomed the decision.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

Sycamore Partners, in partnership with Pessina and his family, will retain ownership of Boots’s other interests in Farmacias Benavides and Alliance Healthcare Deutschland.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

For construction companies, getting rid of TPS “would be a disaster,” said Arnoldo Diaz, co-coordinator of the National TPS Alliance, an advocacy group.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

The current governing coalition is made up of United List, New Unity, the Union of Greens and Farmers and the National Alliance.

From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026

Everyone in Black Alliance has followed me out to the hallway and are begging me to stop.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

They’re correct that America’s alliances have weathered struggles before.

From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026

In addition to the alliances above, Joe Lycett was on the TV show Last One Laughing with Rob Beckett.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

The geopolitics of the Horn of Africa are fiendishly complex, with shifting alliances and the involvement of many outside actors with conflicting interests.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

All three are able to pivot easily between likable and not, which is key for the shifting alliances in “Verity.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

In war or at a party everyone is wily, intriguing; goals are set and altered; alliances rearranged.

From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison