# ally

> English word · Verb · IPA /ˈæl.aɪ/ · frequency rank #6,021

## Definitions
1. To unite or form a connection between (people or things), as between families by marriage, or between states by confederacy, league, or treaty.
2. Chiefly followed by to or with: to connect or form a relation to (someone or something) by similarity in features or nature.
3. To join or unite (oneself or itself) against, with, etc., someone or something else.
4. Chiefly followed by with: to enter into an alliance or unite for a common aim.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **ay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ally-vs-ay)
- **any** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ally-vs-any)
- **Amy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ally-vs-amy)
- **alt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ally-vs-alt)
- **als** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ally-vs-als)
- **AOL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ally-vs-aol)
- **alp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ally-vs-alp)
- **ASL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ally-vs-asl)
- **AML** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ally-vs-aml)
- **alm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ally-vs-alm)
- **APL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ally-vs-apl)
- **also** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ally-vs-also)
- **away** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ally-vs-away)
- **army** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ally-vs-army)
- **Andy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ally-vs-andy)
- **alot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ally-vs-alot)
- **alma** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ally-vs-alma)
- **Alps** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ally-vs-alps)
- **axle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ally-vs-axle)
- **alto** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ally-vs-alto)

## Common misspellings (4)
`allyy`, `aly`, `alyl`, `laly`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/ally