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alliance

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

8 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "alliance", 8-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "alliance" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "alliance" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

alliance is aEnglishnoun. It means: The state of being allied. Pronounced /əˈlaɪ.əns/. It ranks #3,598 in English word frequency. Often confused with ambiance and allowance.

Key facts for alliance
PropertyValue
Headwordalliance
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/əˈlaɪ.əns/
Letters8
Frequency rank#3,598
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of alliance in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for alliance is 8 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈlaɪ.əns/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,598 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 10 documented wrong-spelling variants for alliance, with forms such as "aliance", "alilance", and "allaince". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "ambiance", "allowance", "appliance", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English alliaunce, from Old French aliance (French alliance). Equivalent to ally + -ance. Compare with Doric Greek ἁλία (halía, “assembly”). Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is alliance, spelled A-L-L-I-A-N-C-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The state of being allied.
  2. 2
    The act of allying or uniting.
  3. 3
    A union or connection of interests between families, states, parties, etc., especially between families by marriage and states by compact, treaty, or league.
  4. 4
    A union or connection of interests between families, states, parties, etc., especially between families by marriage and states by compact, treaty, or league.
  5. 5
    Any union resembling that of families or states; union by relationship in qualities; affinity.
  6. 6
    The persons or parties allied.
  7. 7
    Synonym of cohort (“group of orders of organisms”).

Etymology

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

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: aliance,alilance,allaince,alliacne,alliancce,allianec,alliannce,allience,allinace,laliance

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for alliance

Misspelling Variants of "alliance"

aliance7alilance8allaince8alliacne8alliancce9allianec8alliannce9allience8
Misspelling Variants of "alliance"

Frequency rank: #3,598 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "alliance"?
"alliance" is spelled A-L-L-I-A-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈlaɪ.əns/.
What does "alliance" mean?
As a noun, "alliance" means: The state of being allied.
What words are commonly confused with "alliance"?
"alliance" is commonly confused with "ambiance", "allowance", "appliance". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "alliance"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "alliance" is /əˈlaɪ.əns/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "alliance"?
From Middle English alliaunce, from Old French aliance (French alliance). Equivalent to ally + -ance. Compare with Doric Greek ἁλία (halía, “assembly”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter A in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.