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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 other three also come from the AFC-M23 alliance which last year seized much of mineral-rich eastern DR Congo.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

The region is watching what Washington will do when the cornerstone of its Gulf alliance system is under attack.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

He said the European push to take more responsibility for its defence was making the alliance tougher and more capable.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

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 shaken Tododaho agreed to add the Onondaga to the nascent alliance.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

However, Alliance deputy leader Eóin Tennyson welcomed the decision.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 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

That’s an approach being used by the Community Organizing Alliance in Maine, a civic group focused on engaging Black and immigrant voters.

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026

An astute politician, Cortes studied the Triple Alliance with a view to dismembering it.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

After World War II, the U.S. increasingly relied on military alliances, overseas bases, trade and international institutions to project power.

From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2026

Bitter rivals are forming alliances and executives are having to personally intervene over the scramble for resources to fuel the AI boom.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

We often shorthand alliances as friendships, but they’re usually built less on comity and more on mutual necessity.

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 witches were a great power in those latitudes, and the alliances they made were costly but valuable.

From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman