Etymology: < Middle French alloy, aloy, Middle French, French aloi mixture of metals (1260 in Old French; a1403 in extended use, denoting any kind of mixture), comparative purity of gold or silver (1357; 1342 as esloy ), quality (a1403; 1446 with specific reference to a person's character; frequently modified by an adjective, e.g. in de bon aloi , de mauvais aloi ) < aloier alloy v. Compare earlier allay n.¹ The semantic motivation of sense 2, which is not paralleled in French, is unclear. N.E.D. (1884) suggests that the sense may have developed from a hypothetical earlier sense ‘allowance for difference of standard’. Compare loy n.¹; it is perhaps possible that these words may have been associated with cognates of agio n. with initial l- (see note at agio n.). Sense 3a is not paralleled in continental French, although compare Anglo-Norman lai , variant (with loss of initial vowel) of allai allay n.¹ (a1370 or earlier in this sense); compare also earlier allay n.¹ 3. The usual French equivalent is alliage alliage n. (1690 in this sense). N.E.D. (1884) records only second-syllable stress, as do D. Jones Eng. Pronouncing Dict. (1922) and pre-1934 editions of Webster. Webster (ed. 2, 1934) records second-syllable stress, giving first-syllable stress as a variant. Later dictionaries such as ed. 11 (1956) and later editions of Jones, as well as Webster's Third New Internat. Dict. (1961), sometimes make a semantic distinction between the two stress patterns, giving first-syllable stress for the senses in branch I., but second-syllable stress for the figurative uses in branch II. In the most recent pronouncing dictionaries, first-syllable stress is either the dominant or the only pattern, irrespective of sense. Compare the discussion of stress patterns at ally n.¹

Etymology: Apparently an alteration (after alloy n.) of allay v.³ Compare Middle French, French (now rare) aloyer to mix (a metal) with a baser metal so as to reduce to a desired standard or quality (a1342; now largely superseded by allier ally v., which is the usual word for sense 1; compare Middle French aloier to ally, to combine, to unite in marriage, etc. (first half of the 14th cent.)), variant (apparently arising from an earlier stem alternant, but influenced early on by aloi alloy n.) of allaier allay v.³ and allier ally v. With the figurative uses in branch II., compare earlier allay v.¹ III. and see discussion at that entry. Compare also earlier ally v.Pronunciation with stress on the first syllable is given as a less frequent alternative in Webster's Third New Internat. Dict. (1961) and subsequently in U.S. dictionaries, but not usually in British ones: compare pronunciation note at alloy n.