ally.
To unite or form a connection between (people or things), as between families by marriage, or between states by confederacy, league, or treaty.
Meaning & usage
To unite or form a connection between (people or things), as between families by marriage, or between states by confederacy, league, or treaty.
Chiefly followed by to or with: to connect or form a relation to (someone or something) by similarity in features or nature.
To join or unite (oneself or itself) against, with, etc., someone or something else.
Chiefly followed by with: to enter into an alliance or unite for a common aim.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English allien, alien (“to form an alliance, associate, join; to become an ally; to introduce (someone) as an ally; to marry; to become related (to someone); to attack, engage in combat; to combine; (cooking) to combine ingredients, especially to bind them together”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman alier, allier, Middle French alier, allier [and other forms], and Old French alier (“to join together, unite; to alloy (metals); (cooking) to combine ingredients”) (modern French allier), from Latin alligāre, the present active infinitive of alligō, adligō (“to bind around, to, or up (something), bandage, fasten, fetter, tie; to hold fast; to detain, hinder”), from al-, ad- (intensifying prefix) + ligō (“to bind, tie; to bandage, wrap around; to unite”) (from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ- (“to bind, tie”)). Doublet of allay, alligate, alloy, and ligament.
A person who co-operates with or helps another; an associate; a friend.
A person who co-operates with or helps another; an associate; a friend. A person who, or organization which, supports a demographic group subject to discrimination and/or misrepresentation but is not a member of the group; specifically (LGBTQ), a person who is not a member of the LGBT+ community but is supportive of it.
I’m glad you want to be a better ally to the disabled.
A person, group, state, etc., which is associated or united by treaty with another for a common (especially military or political) purpose; a confederate.
The two countries were allies in World War I.
Something regarded as connected with or related to another thing by similarity in features or nature.
Something regarded as connected with or related to another thing by similarity in features or nature. An organism which is related to another organism through common evolutionary origin; specifically, a species which is closely related to another species, usually within the same family.
The order of Gruiformes includes cranes and their allies.
A person, group, concept, etc., which is associated with another as a helper; an auxiliary; a supporter.
A kinsman or kinswoman; a relative.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English allie, alie [and other forms], probably partly: * from allien (verb): see etymology 1; and * from Anglo-Norman allié, alié, alyé, allyé, Middle French allié, alié, allyé (“associate, supporter; friend; relative; person, state, etc., associated or united with another by alliance or treaty”), and Old French alliiet (“military or political ally”) (modern French allié), a noun use of the past participle of Anglo-Norman alier, allier, Middle French alier, allier, and Old French alier (verb): see etymology 1.
One's relatives; kin, kindred, relations; also, relationship through descent or marriage; kinship.
People, groups, states, etc., which are associated or united with each other for a common purpose; confederates; also, the state of being allied; alliance, confederation.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English allie, alie [and other forms], probably partly: * from allien (verb): see etymology 1; and * from Anglo-Norman allié, alié, alyé, allyé, Middle French allié, alié, allyé (“associate, supporter; friend; relative; person, state, etc., associated or united with another by alliance or treaty”), and Old French alliiet (“military or political ally”) (modern French allié), a noun use of the past participle of Anglo-Norman alier, allier, Middle French alier, allier, and Old French alier (verb): see etymology 1.
Alternative spelling of alley (“a glass marble or taw”).
Where this word comes from
See alley.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.