alliance

¹ American  

[uh-lahy-uhns] / əˈlaɪ əns /

noun

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.

---

Alliance ² American  

[uh-lahy-uhns] / əˈlaɪ əns /

noun

1. a city in NE Ohio.

---

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

---

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

---

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. 

Related Words

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

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

Etymology

Origin of alliance

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

Example Sentences

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries kept its forecasts for global oil-demand unchanged and said production from the wider OPEC+ alliance fell last month amid losses in Venezuela, Iran and Kazakhstan.

From The Wall Street Journal

There are some alliances, but now the alliances were just shattered because the money’s taken.

From Los Angeles Times

It was an ill-starred alliance, and Frank quickly found himself out of his depth.

From BBC

The defence secretary will join Nato counterparts at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels on Thursday to discuss the proposals.

From BBC

"We expect that we will have a clear mandate from the people -- a big mandate," he said, adding he did not foresee the need for a coalition beyond his current party alliance.

From Barron's