late 13c., "to join in marriage" (transitive), from Old French alier "combine, unite," from a differentiated stem of aliier (from Latin alligare "bind to, tie to," from ad "to" (see ad-) + ligare "to bind, bind one thing to another, tie" (from PIE root *leig- "to tie, bind"). Meaning "to form an alliance, join, associate" is late 14c. Related: allied; allying.
General sense of "combination for a common object" is from mid-14c., as are those of "bond or treaty between rulers or nations, contracted by treaty" and "aggregate of persons allied." Unlike its synonyms, "rarely used of a combination for evil" [Century Dictionary]. Meaning "state of being allied or connected" is from 1670s. The Latin word was alligantia.
It forms all or part of: abate; ado; ad-; ad hoc; ad lib; adage; adagio; add; adjective; adore; adorn; adult; adverb; advertise; agree; aid; alloy; ally; amontillado; amount; assure; at; atone; exaggerate; paramount; rapport; twit.
It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit adhi "near;" Latin ad "to, toward;" Old English æt.
Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to tie, bind."
It forms all or part of: alloy; ally; colligate; deligate; furl; league (n.1) "alliance;" legato; liable; liaison; lien; lictor; ligand; ligament; ligate; ligation; ligature; oblige; rally (v.1) "bring together;" religion; rely.
It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Latin ligare "to bind;" Albanian lidh "I bind," and possibly Middle Low German lik "band," Middle High German geleich "joint, limb."
"bring together or into order again by urgent effort," c. 1600, from French rallier, from Old French ralier "reassemble, unite again," from re- "again" (see re-) + alier "unite" (see ally (v.)).
In Old French (and Italian), re- often appeared as ra- by confusion with the true ra- (from Latin re- + ad-), and the following consonant often was doubled; compare rabbet (a doublet of rebate), rappel (a doublet of repeal). But as ra- was not recognized in English as a prefix, words with ra- in Old French usually returned to re- in English; Rally and rabbet never were because the accent had receded. In later borrowings (rappel, rapprochement, etc.) the words tend to keep their French forms.
Intransitive meaning "pull together hastily, recover order, revive, rouse" is from 1660s. Related: Rallied; rallying. Rallying-point "place at or about which persons come together for action" is by 1798. Rally round the flag (1862) is a line from popular American Civil War song "Battle Cry of Freedom."
"one who is mutually at war" (as distinguished from an ally), 1813, a word from the Napoleonic wars, from co- + belligerent. As an adjective, "carrying on war in conjunction with another power," from 1828.
