alliance

See also: Alliance

English

Alternative forms

• alliaunce (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English alliaunce, from Old French aliance (French alliance). Equivalent to ally +‎ -ance. Compare with Doric Greek ἁλία (halía, “assembly”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈlaɪ.əns/
• Rhymes: -aɪəns

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

alliance (countable and uncountable, plural alliances)

1. (uncountable) The state of being allied.

   matrimonial alliances

   an alliance between church and state, or between two countries

2. (countable) The act of allying or uniting.
3. (countable) A union or connection of interests between families, states, parties, etc., especially between families by marriage and states by compact, treaty, or league.
4. (countable) Any union resembling that of families or states; union by relationship in qualities; affinity.
   • 1624, William Udall, The Historie of the Life and Death of Mary Stuart Queene of Scotland:

     And as for kindred , there is no Alliance neerer vnto any one, than their Countrey , that is to be vnto vs another God, and our prime and deareſt Parent.

   • 1871, Charles John Smith, Synonyms Discriminated:

     the alliance of the principles of the world with those of the gospel

   • 1860, Henry Longueville Mansel, Prolegomena Logica: An Inquiry Into the Psychological Character of Logical Processes:

     the alliance […] between logic and metaphysics

5. (with the definite article) The persons or parties allied.
6. (India) Marriage.

Synonyms

• (union by relationship in qualities): connection, affinity, union, allyship
• (act of allying): union
• (persons or parties allied): coalition, league, confederation, team (informal)

Derived terms

• airline alliance
• alliancer
• antialliance
• counteralliance
• gay-straight alliance
• Grand Alliance
• misalliance
• offensive and defensive alliance
• quasi-alliance
• realliance
• red-green alliance
• red-green-brown alliance
• suballiance
• unholy alliance

 

Related terms

• ally

Translations

state of being allied

• Albanian: aleancë (sq) f
• Arabic: تَحَالُف m (taḥāluf), اِتِّحَاد (ar) m (ittiḥād), اِتِّفَاق m (ittifāq)
• Armenian: միություն (hy) (miutʻyun), դաշնակցություն (hy) (dašnakcʻutʻyun), ալյանս (hy) (alyans)
• Azerbaijani: ittifaq, alyans
• Belarusian: саю́з m (sajúz), алья́нс m (alʹjáns)
• Bulgarian: съю́з (bg) m (sǎjúz), алиа́нс m (aliáns)
• Burmese: မဟာမိတ် (my) (ma.hamit)
• Catalan: aliança (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 同盟 (tung⁴ mang⁴)

  Mandarin: 同盟 (zh) (tóngméng)

• Czech: unie (cs) f, svaz (cs) m, aliance (cs) f
• Danish: forbund (da) n, sammenslutning c, alliance c
• Dutch: alliantie (nl) f
• Estonian: liit, allianss
• Finnish: liitto (fi), liittouma (fi), allianssi (fi)
• French: alliance (fr) f
• Georgian: მოკავშირეობა (moḳavšireoba), ალიანსი (aliansi)
• German: Allianz (de) f, Zusammenschluss (de) m, Verbund (de) m, Bund (de) m, Bündnis (de) n
• Greek: συμμαχία (el) f (symmachía)

  Ancient Greek: συμμαχία f (summakhía)

• Hebrew: בְּרִית (he) f (brit)
• Hindi: गठबंधन (hi) m (gaṭhbandhan), इत्तिहाद (hi) m (ittihād)
• Hungarian: szövetség (hu)
• Icelandic: bandalag n
• Indonesian: persekutuan (id)
• Irish: comhghuaillíocht f, comhaontas m
• Italian: alleanza (it) f
• Japanese: 同盟 (ja) (どうめい, dōmei), アライアンス (ja) (araiansu)
• Kazakh: одақ (odaq), альянс (aläns)
• Khiamniungan Naga: àihlòuh
• Korean: 동맹(同盟) (ko) (dongmaeng)
• Lao: ພັນທະມິດ (phan tha mit)
• Latvian: savienība f
• Lithuanian: sąjunga (lt) f
• Macedonian: сојуз m (sojuz), унија f (unija), алија́нса f (alijánsa)
• Malay: perikatan
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forbund (no) n, allianse (no) m

  Nynorsk: forbund n, allianse m

• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: съѭзъ m (sŭjǫzŭ), съвѫзъ m (sŭvǫzŭ)

• Persian:

  Dari: اِتِّحَاد (ittihād), اِتِّفَاق (ittifāq)

  Iranian Persian: اِتِّحاد (ettehâd), اِتِّفاق (ettefâğ)

• Polish: sojusz (pl) m, alians (pl) m
• Portuguese: aliança (pt)
• Romanian: alianță (ro) f
• Russian: сою́з (ru) m (sojúz), алья́нс (ru) m (alʹjáns)
• Scottish Gaelic: càirdeas m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: са́вез m, алѝјанса f

  Roman: sávez (sh) m, alìjansa (sh) f

• Slovak: únia f, zväz m, aliancia f
• Slovene: unija f, aliansa f, zavezništvo n
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: zwězk m

• Spanish: alianza (es)
• Swahili: fungamano
• Swedish: allians (sv) c
• Tagalog: alyansa (tl)
• Tajik: иттифоқ (ittifoq), иттиҳод (ittihod)
• Telugu: అనుబంధము (te) (anubandhamu)
• Thai: พันธมิตร (th) (pan-tá-mít)
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: ittifak (tr), alyans (tr)
• Turkmen: bileleşik (tk)
• Ukrainian: сою́з m (sojúz), алья́нс (uk) m (alʹjáns)
• Urdu: اِتِّحاد (ur) m (ittihād), اِتِّفاق (ur) m (ittifāq)
• Uzbek: ittifoq (uz), birlashma (uz), alyans (uz)
• Vietnamese: đồng minh (vi) (同盟)

union resembling that of families or states

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: միություն (hy) (miutʻyun)
• Belarusian: саю́з m (sajúz), алья́нс m (alʹjáns)
• Bulgarian: съю́з (bg) m (sǎjúz), алиа́нс m (aliáns)
• Catalan: aliança (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Esperanto: alianco
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: side (fi), yhteys (fi)
• French: alliance (fr) f
• Georgian: ალიანსი (aliansi), კავშირი (ka) (ḳavširi)
• German: Allianz (de) f, Bund (de) m, Bündnis (de) n
• Hebrew: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: szövetség (hu)
• Indonesian: perserikatan (id)
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: allianse (no) m

  Nynorsk: allianse m

• Polish: sojusz (pl) m, alians (pl) m
• Portuguese: aliança (pt) f
• Romanian: alianță (ro) f
• Russian: сою́з (ru) m (sojúz), алья́нс (ru) m (alʹjáns)
• Scottish Gaelic: càirdeas m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: са́вез m, алѝјанса f

  Roman: sávez (sh) m, alìjansa (sh) f

• Slovak: please add this translation if you can
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: zwězk m

• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: сою́з m (sojúz), алья́нс (uk) m (alʹjáns)

persons or parties allied

• Catalan: aliança (ca) f
• Esperanto: alianco
• Finnish: liittoutuneet (fi)
• French: alliance (fr) f
• German: Verbündeten (de) pl or m, Bündnis (de) n, Allianz (de) f
• Hungarian: szövetség (hu)
• Irish: comhghuaillíocht f
• Italian: coalizione (it)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: allianse (no) m

  Nynorsk: allianse m

• Polish: alians (pl) m
• Portuguese: aliados m pl
• Romanian: alianță (ro) f
• Russian: алья́нс (ru) m (alʹjáns)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: zwězk m

• Turkish: ittifak (tr)

treaty between nations

• Albanian: aleancë (sq) f
• Arabic: تَحَالُف m (taḥāluf), حِلْف m (ḥilf)
• Armenian: ալյանս (hy) (alyans), դաշինք (hy) (dašinkʻ)
• Belarusian: саю́з m (sajúz), алья́нс m (alʹjáns)
• Bulgarian: алиа́нс m (aliáns)
• Catalan: aliança (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 同盟 (zh) (tóngméng)

• Czech: aliance (cs) f
• Dutch: alliantie (nl) f
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Estonian: liit, allianss
• Finnish: liittouma (fi), liittoutuma (fi), liitto (fi)
• French: alliance (fr) f
• Georgian: ალიანსი (aliansi)
• German: Allianz (de) f, Bündnis (de) n
• Greek: συμμαχία (el) f (symmachía)
• Hungarian: szövetség (hu)
• Indonesian: persekutuan (id), aliansi (id)
• Italian: trattato (it) m
• Latvian: alianse f
• Lithuanian: aljansas m
• Macedonian: алија́нса f (alijánsa)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: allianse (no) m

  Nynorsk: allianse m

• Persian:

  Dari: اِتِّحَاد (ittihād), اِتِّفَاق (ittifāq)

  Iranian Persian: اِتِّحاد (ettehâd), اِتِّفاق (ettefâğ)

• Polish: alians (pl) m, sojusz (pl) m, przymierze (pl) n
• Portuguese: aliança (pt) f
• Romanian: alianță (ro) f
• Russian: сою́з (ru) m (sojúz), алья́нс (ru) m (alʹjáns)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: алѝјанса f

  Roman: alìjansa (sh) f

• Slovak: aliancia f
• Slovene: aliansa f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: zwězk m

• Swedish: allians (sv) c
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: сою́з m (sojúz), алья́нс (uk) m (alʹjáns)

Verb

alliance (third-person singular simple present alliances, present participle alliancing, simple past and past participle allianced)

1. (obsolete) To connect or unite by alliance; to ally.

Further reading

• “alliance”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “alliance”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• ancillae, canaille

Danish

Noun

alliance c (singular definite alliancen, plural indefinite alliancer)

1. an alliance

Declension

Declension of alliance

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	alliance	alliancen	alliancer	alliancerne
genitive	alliances	alliancens	alliancers	alliancernes

Further reading

• “alliance” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Etymology

From allier +‎ -ance.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.ljɑ̃s/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑ̃s

Noun

alliance f (plural alliances)

1. alliance, union
2. wedding ring

Descendants

• → Polish: alians
• → Portuguese: aliança
• → Russian: алья́нс (alʹjáns), алья́нсъ (alʹjáns) — Pre-reform orthography (1918)
  • → Armenian: ալյանս (alyans)
  • → Kazakh: альянс (aläns)
• → Turkish: alyans

Further reading

• “alliance”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• canaille

Middle English

Noun

alliance

1. Alternative form of alliaunce