Alliance

How to spell alliance

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce alliance

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does alliance mean?

1. nounA formal union or association formed between people, groups, or nations for mutual benefit.

Alliance in a sentence

• The two companies formed a strategic alliance to share research costs.

• The wartime alliance between the nations lasted only until the common enemy was defeated.

Where does alliance come from?

Language of origin: French

Alliance comes from the Old French aliance, meaning a union or bond, which English adopted in the 1300s. The French word grew from the verb alier, 'to combine or bind together', which itself descended from the Latin alligare, literally 'to bind to' or 'to tie one thing to another'. That Latin verb was built from ad, meaning 'to', and ligare, meaning 'to bind', the same root that gives us 'ligament' and 'oblige'. The original sense was a very physical idea of tying things together, and over time it shifted to the figurative binding of people, families, and nations through agreement or marriage. The doubled l in the modern spelling preserves that Latin ad-plus-ligare join, and remembering 'ally' inside 'alliance' is the surest way to keep the ending as -ance rather than -ence.

How the word is built

• al- (from ad-, to)
• li (from ligare, to bind)
• -ance (noun suffix forming a state or condition)