ally

Verb

ally (third-person singular simple present allies, present participle allying, simple past and past participle allied)

1. (transitive) To unite or form a connection between (people or things), as between families by marriage, or between states by confederacy, league, or treaty.
   • Theſe three did loue each other dearely well, / And with ſo firme affection were allyde, / As if but one ſoule in them all did dvvell, / VVhich did her povvre into three parts diuyde; […]1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 43, page 33
   • [W]hen hee's remou'd, your Highneſſe / VVill take againe your Queene, as yours at firſt, / Euen for your Sonnes ſake, and thereby for ſealing / The Iniurie of Tongues, in Courts and Kingdomes / Knovvne, and ally'd to yours.c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
2. (transitive) Chiefly followed by to or with: to connect or form a relation to (someone or something) by similarity in features or nature.
   • Yes in good ſooth, the vice is of a great kindred; it is vvell allied, but it is impoſſible to extirpe it quite, Frier, till eating and drinking be put dovvne.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
   • Great VVits are ſure to Madneſs near ally'd; / And thin Partitions do their Bounds divide: […]1681, [John Dryden], Absalom and Achitophel. A Poem, London: […] J[acob] T[onson] and are to be sold by W. Davis […], →OCLC, page 6
3. (reflexive, transitive) To join or unite (oneself or itself) against, with, etc., someone or something else.
   • To be ſhort, hauing thus ingrafted them into the body of his [God's] Sonne, he ioyneth and allieth him ſelfe to them, he maketh him ſelfe one with them, maketh them his children and heyres, partakers of his immortalitie and glorie, and all this he worketh by the inward vertue of his holy Ghost, […]1577, Peter de la Place [i.e. Pierre de la Place], “Of the Excellencie of a Christian Man, and the Way to Knowe Him”, in L[aurence] Tomson, transl., A Treatise of the Excellencie of a Christian Man...
   • [W]e have ſo many of our firſt Titled Families vvho have ally'd themſelves to Trade, (vvhoſe Inducements vvere Money only) that it ceaſes to be either a VVonder as to the Fact, or a Diſgrace to the Honour.1742, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXIX”, in Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded. […], volume III, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; and sold by C[harles] Rivington, […]; and J. Osborn, […], →OCLC, page 172
4. (intransitive) Chiefly followed by with: to enter into an alliance or unite for a common aim.
   • [A]ftervvards he [Constantine the Great] allied vvith Licinius, and gave him his Siſter in marriage, and acknovvledged him his Colleague in the Empire.1673, Gilbert Burnet, “The First Conference”, in A Vindication of the Authority, Constitution, and Laws of the Church and State of Scotland. […], Glasgow: Robert Sanders, […], →OCLC, page 62
   • Whatever injuries […] the Athenians have done me I forgive. […] If they will ally with me, rebuild the temples I have burnt.1837, Edward Lytton Bulwer [i.e., Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter VIII, in Athens: Its Rise and Fall: […], volume II, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, book III (From the Battle of Marathon to...

   Synonyms:

   make common cause

Noun (1)

ally (plural allies)

1. A person who co-operates with or helps another; an associate; a friend.
   • [N]o attempt is made to call in God to their reſcue, as if he vvere an idle unconcern'd ſpectator of humane affairs, or ſo inconſiderable an ally, as not to be vvorth the care of engaging him on their ſide.1660, [Richard Allestree], “Sect[ion] V. Of the Second Advantage, Wealth.”, in The Gentlemans Calling, London: […] T[imothy] Garthwait […], →OCLC, page 83
   • The rights of the ſeven Electors were ſupported by all the deſcendants and allies of their powerful families, who ſhared in the ſplendor and influence, which they enjoyed by this diſtinguiſhing privilege.1769, William Robertson, “Proofs and Illustrations. Note XLI. Sect. III. p. 186.”, in The History of the Reign of the Emperor Charles V. […], volume I, London: […] W. and W. Strahan, for W[illiam]...
   1. 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.
2. 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.
   • To be ſo ſcornefull to your alye⸝ / Your counſeyle was not worth a flye.[1513], John Skelton, A Ballade of the Scottysshe Kynge, [London: Richard Fawkes], →OCLC; reprinted London: Elliot Stock, […], 1882, →OCLC, page [94]
3. Something regarded as connected with or related to another thing by similarity in features or nature.
   • the pretty Pansy then Ile tye / Like Stones some Chaine inchasing, / And next to them their neere Alye, / The purple Violet placing.1630, Michael Drayton, “[The Muses Elizium.] The Fift Nimphall.”, in Cyril Brett, editor, Minor Poems of Michael Drayton, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, published 1907, →OCLC, page 198, lines...
   • The Aleptick art, and, its neereſt ally, Medicine, are deſign'd for the cure of bodies, reducing the faculties to the beſt harmony; […]1659–1660, Thomas Stanley, “[Timæus the Locrian. Of the Soul of the World, and of Nature.]”, in The History of Philosophy, the Third and Last Volume, […], volume III, London: […] Humphrey Moseley...
   1. 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.
      • Procyonids (raccoons and their allies), a group of North American origin, are first recorded in South America in a level immediately below a unit dated at 6.0 million years.1979, Larry G. Marshall et al., “Calibration of the Great American Interchange: A radioisotope chronology for Late Tertiary interchange of terrestrial faunas between the Americas.”, in Science...
4. (figuratively) A person, group, concept, etc., which is associated with another as a helper; an auxiliary; a supporter.
   • [S]cience, instead of being the enemy of religion, becomes its ally.1861, Henry Thomas Buckle, “An Examination of the Scotch Intellect during the Eighteenth Century”, in History of Civilization in England, volume II, London: Parker, Son, and Bourn, […], →OCLC, page...
5. (historical, obsolete) A kinsman or kinswoman; a relative.
   • This Gentleman the Princes neere Alie. / My very frend hath tane this mortall vvound / In my behalfe, […]c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Juliet. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, published 1597, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]
   • Finally there was a quiet wedding at the Towers, […] The Sellerses were to go to England with their new allies for a brief visit, but when it was time to take the train from Washington, the colonel was missing.1892, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXV, in The American Claimant, New York, N.Y.: Charles L[uther] Webster & Co., →OCLC, page 269

Noun (2)

ally pl (plural only)

1. (obsolete, plural, plural-only) One's relatives; kin, kindred, relations; also, relationship through descent or marriage; kinship.
   • The ſpider: as of vſe in talke new entrid, / (Frendes axe of frends: the ſtate of their frends frendly,) / Axte how his coſins (thants father and mother) did. / His brothers ſiſters with all kyn and aly, / Thant ſaid thei did well.1556, John Heywood, chapter 29, in The Spider and the Flie. […], London: […] Tho[mas] Powell, →OCLC; republished as A[dolphus] W[illiam] Ward, editor, The Spider and the Flie. […] (Publications of...
2. (obsolete, plural, plural-only) 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.

Proper noun capitalized: Ally

IPA/ˈæliː/

Ally (plural Allys)

1. A diminutive of the female given names Alice, Alison, Alexandra, and other names beginning with Al-[[]], from the Germanic languages or Ancient Greek.
   • Where’s my Girle? What Ally? Ally? / Enter Alice.1637–1638 (date written), Richard Brome, “The Damoiselle, or The New Ordinary. A Comedy.”, in A[lexander] Brome, editor, Five New Playes, […], London: […] Humphrey Moseley, Richard Marriot, and...
2. A diminutive of the male given names Alfred, Albert, Alan, Alexander, and other names beginning with Al-[[]], from the Germanic languages, the Celtic languages, or Ancient Greek.
   • Ally Love
   • Golden-hair'd Ally whose name is one with mine,
     Crazy with laughter and babble and earth's new wine1880, Alfred Tennyson, To Alfred Tennyson, My Grandson