leaguen.²

Brit.

/liːɡ/, U.S.

/liɡ/

Forms: Middle English ligg, (? Middle English–) 1500s leage, Scottish lig, 1500s lege, liage, leag(ge, Scottish leig, lyge, lyig, 1500s–1600s ligue, leaug(e, 1500s– league.

Etymology: The form ligue, lig, is < French ligue, < Italian liga, variant of lega, verbal noun < legare to bind < Latin ligāre. The form le(a)ge is perhaps < Italian lega.

a. A military, political, or commercial covenant or compact made between parties for their mutual protection and assistance against a common enemy, the prosecution or safeguarding of joint interests, and the like; a body of states or persons associated in such a covenant, a confederacy.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > [noun] > an alliance or association for common purpose

confederacya1387

league1452

allya1481

confedereya1513

consociation1603

closea1616

party1624

combinement1658

collegationa1700

confederateship1715

consortium1881

society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > international agreements > [noun] > alliance or confederacy > an alliance

confederacya1387

fellowshipa1400

band1452

league1452

societyc1540

federacy1598

confederation1621

1452 in P. F. Tytler Hist. Scotl. (1864) II. 387 I..binds and obliss me, that I shall make na bond, na ligg..quhilk sall be contrar till his heines.

1509 J. Fisher Serm. Henry VIJ (de Worde) sig. Aij^v Leages and confederyes he hadde with all crysten prynces.

1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid iii. vii. 63 And this same lyge with our posteritie Sall euir remane in faith and vnite.

1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Bij^v The cytiezins of Aden had..made a leage with the Portugales.

1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 132 This Leauge or band being maid betueine the king and the hail natione.

1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 262 To make a Leagge or band w^t the Scotis and Peichtis against the Jnglismen.

1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII i. i. 95 France hath flaw'd the League, and hath attach'd Our Merchants goods at Burdeux.

1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxii. 121 Leagues are commonly made for mutuall defence.

1678 C. Hatton in E. M. Thompson Corr. Family of Hatton (1878) I. 160 Y^e league offensive and defensive w^th y^e States Gen^ll.

a1781 R. Watson Hist. Reign Philip III (1783) i. 22 Count Hohenloe was in Germany, employed in exciting the princes of the league of Munster to take the field against the Spaniards.

1858 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. (ed. 2) III. xvii. 451 The danger of a Protestant league compelled the Catholic powers to bury their rivalries.

b. spec. in Historical use. the League, (a) a league formed in 1576 under the direction of the Guises, to prevent the accession of Henry IV to the French throne; (b) = League of Nations n. Holy League, a name given to several leagues in European history, as that formed by Pope Julius II against the French in 1511 and the Nuremberg League of 1538. Hanseatic, Latin League: see these adjectives. Solemn League and Covenant: see covenant n. 9a.By writers on ancient history the word is used in the designation of certain confederations of states, as the Aetolian league, the Amphictyonic league, etc.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > international agreements > [noun] > alliance or confederacy > an alliance > specific alliances

auld alliance1566

the League1589

armed neutrality1780

German Confederation1786

Germanic Confederation1815

Holy Alliance1823

the Concert of Europe1841

Sonderbund1847

Triplice1896

Soviet block1919

communist bloc1922

Eastern bloc1922

Soviet bloc1924

axis1936

Rome–Berlin Axis1936

Eastern block1938

communist block1941

Western European Union1944

Arab League1945

Western Union1948

Atlantic Pact1949

NATO1949

North Atlantic Treaty Organization1949

Seato1954

W.E.U.1954

Warsaw Pact1955

Atlantic Alliance1958

ASEAN1967

G201972

society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > international agreements > [noun] > alliance or confederacy > an alliance > of Greek states

the League1838

society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > [noun] > League of Nations

League of Nations1915

the League1917

1589 I. L. (title) The Birth, Purpose, and mortal Wound of the Romish holie League.

1684 J. Dryden (title) The history of the League. Written in French by M. Maimbourg. Translated into English.

1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Leaguer, one concern'd in the League or Confederacy in France, in the time of King Henry III and IV.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) The League is used by way of Eminence for that famous one on foot in France, from the Year 1576, to 1593.

1769 W. Robertson Hist. Charles V II. iv. 267 The King of England was declared Protector of this league, which they dignified with the name of Holy, because the Pope was at the head of it.

1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece (new ed.) I. 375 The Amphictyonic league or council.

1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece (new ed.) III. 39 The Delphians..were..induced..to renounce their union with the Phocian league.

1861 T. H. Dyer Mod. Europe II. 194 An alliance against the Sultan, called the Holy League, was..concluded between himself [Pius V], Philip II., and the Venetians.

1861 T. H. Dyer Mod. Europe II. 450 The Catholic States of the Circles of Suabia and Bavaria agreed to enter into an alliance which afterwards obtained the name of the Holy League.

1917 H. N. Brailsford League of Nations 324 Without the firm resolve to make the League itself an article, and the first article, in the settlement, our need of security will drive us inevitably to other expedients. The settlement, unless the idea of the League penetrates it and inspires it, must draw its principle from the older statecraft of anarchy and force.

1919 J. M. O'Sullivan in Studies Dec. 577 Had not the basal idea of the League been thus early repudiated.

1936 A. Huxley Let. 2 Mar. (1969) 401 The..atmosphere wd be cleared and a chance given for the reconstruction of the League on a more satisfactory basis.

1944 J. S. Huxley On Living in Revol. iii. 32 The failure of the League merely served to underline the urgent need for some international political organization.

1950 W. Theimer & P. Campbell Encycl. World Politics 260/1 The Assembly did not meet again until April 1946, when it decided to dissolve the League, already replaced by the United Nations.

1952 Oxf. Junior Encycl. X. 212/2 When the United States Congress repudiated President Wilson's proposals and failed to join the League, its hope of real success was small.

1971 W. H. McNeill in A. Bullock 20th Cent. 47/1 Should a government defy the League..all the League members would be obliged to..check aggression by imposing sanctions.

c. In recent times often adopted in the names of certain associations of individuals or of societies for some common object. Anti-Corn-Law League: a political association formed in 1838 to procure the abolition of the existing Corn Laws. Football League: see quot. 1899². Land, Primrose, Reform League: see these nouns. Similarly, Baseball League, Cricket League. Also elliptically League.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > an association, society, or organization > types of association, society, or organization > [noun] > other types of association, society, or organization

invisible college1647

rota1660

working party1744

free association1761

working committee1821

Ethical Society1822

bar association1824

league1846

congress1870

tiger1874

cult1875

Daughters of the American Revolution1890

community group1892

housing association1898

working party1902

development agency1910

affinity group1915

propaganda machine1916

funding body1922

collective1925

Ku-Klux1930

network1946

NGO1946

production brigade1950

umbrella organization1950

plantation1956

think-tank1958

think group1961

team1990

society > authority > rule or government > politics > British politics > British political associations > [noun] > Anti-Corn-Law League

league1846

society > leisure > sport > player or sportsperson > [noun] > team or group > group of teams

league1879

conference1905

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > association football > [noun] > league or division

Football League1889

table1896

premier league1898

division1899

1846 Duke of Wellington in Croker Papers (1884) III. xxiv. 51 There were no persons in that assembly capable of sustaining in debate the existing Corn Law against Cobden and the League.

1879 Chicago Tribune 17 May 7/5 A misunderstanding has arisen as to the condition of the Cleveland Club, and its inability to play, which will end in an appeal to the League.

1883 Catholic Dict. (1896) 554 The Catholic Total Abstinence League of the Cross was founded in 1873.

1883 Whitaker's Almanack 227/2 National Sunday League,..National Temperance League.

1889 Whitaker's Almanack 564/1 A Football League has been formed, including twelve of the leading North and Midland clubs... These clubs play a sort of American tournament for the League Championship.

1891 Amer. Cricket Ann. 10 The organisation of the Metropolitan District Cricket League was certainly a move in the right direction.

1892 Athletic News Cricket Ann. 51 Lancashire Cricket League... This organisation..has done for cricket what the League has done for football.

1892 J. A. Leighton (title) Leighton's North-Western Rugby Football League card. Season 1892–93.

1894 Athletic News 5 Nov. 1/2 The position of Notts in the League is occasioning very considerable anxiety.

1899 Ld. Aldenham Colloquy on Currency (1900) Pref. 9 They even proposed to hear me, as president of the Bimetallic League.

1899 G. O. Smith in M. Shearman et al. Football (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) (new ed.) 170 It was at this stage Mr. MacGregor..brought forward his idea of a football union between the leading clubs of the day... The following twelve clubs were invited to form a union between themselves... Thus was the League formed.

1899 G. O. Smith in M. Shearman et al. Football (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) (new ed.) 171 The League was formed chiefly for the purpose of insuring a series of first-class games [etc.].

1910 Encycl. Brit. IX. 622/1 In 1888 the Football League, a combination of professional clubs of the north and midlands of England, was formed.

1921 A. Huxley Crome Yellow ii. 13 All the players in all the teams of the League.

1930 J. Williamson Amer. Hotel 293 The Broadway Central has been the scene of several noteworthy episodes. It was there that the National League was organized in 1876.

1935 Encycl. Sports, Games & Pastimes 187/2 A number of [cricket] clubs form themselves into a league; each plays all the others in turn, and the championship of the league falls to the one which wins the most matches.

1935 Encycl. Sports, Games & Pastimes 292/2 The first league, the Football League, was then formed [in 1888].

1951 Football Record (Melbourne) 8 Sept. 12 Approximately 300 visiting schoolboys were recently entertained by the League at the Melbourne ground.

1957 Encycl. Brit. III. 159/2 The professional [baseball] clubs usually compete as members of leagues.

1960 B. Liddell My Soccer Story vii. 48 For years the Football Association and the Football League have been trying to help players to prepare for the new life ahead when they finish with football.

1969 Listener 20 Mar. 384/2 I cannot believe he would still maintain that Rugby League backs ‘usually run across instead of straight’.

1973 News of the World Football Ann. 1973–4 78 (heading) Football League—Division One.

1973 News of the World Football Ann. 1973–4 100 Re-elected to Division [One] when League was extended after the war.

1974 Daily Record (Glasgow) 15 Apr. 27/2 Yesterday Stein admitted, ‘The League is almost won. We know that!’

1974 Guardian 1 Aug. 22/8 It is not possible to be wrapped up in all the competitions and win them as the League exists at present.

†d. A document in which the terms of a league are set down. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > international agreements > [noun] > alliance or confederacy > document embodying

league1642

1642 C. Vernon Considerations Excheqver 43 The Treasury, where the ancient Leagues of the Realme..and divers other ancient Records doe lye.

1652 M. Nedham tr. J. Selden Of Dominion of Sea 89 The Transcripts of Leagues and Treaties.

e. transferred and figurative. Cf. big league adj. and n.

ΘΠ

society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > persons of same profession, occupation, or pursuits

ordera1382

set1682

league1935

1935 J. T. Farrell Judgment Day viii. 185 You better go back and play in a grammar-school league.

1959 N. Mailer Advts. for Myself (1961) 389 You want to keep a girl who was born to travel in a big league.

1961 Listener 12 Oct. 547/1 At the Riga brewery..I saw a notice board with the photographs of the twelve workers who were topping the production league.

1965 Listener 23 Sept. 446/1 The English-speaking peoples are excellent at breakfasts, but after that they would scarcely claim to stand high in the gastronomic league.

1966 J. Chamier Cannonball xii. 115 She's out of your league, me lad, and you'll take a most almighty toss.

1970 Washington Post 30 Sept. B. 4/3 In such a league Paul Mellon has impeccable collections.

1971 Austral. Seacraft June 17/2 To join the big league [in speedboating].

1971 Where Oct. 293/2 Neill has a lightness of touch, and a flair for comedy that were in the Wodehouse league.

1972 New Society 27 Jan. 187/1 Rory Gallagher, a minor league superstar blues guitarist.

1972 ‘M. Yorke’ Silent Witness v. 121 She was bored because he obviously wasn't in her league.

1973 Times 22 Feb. 5/3 The latest incident is not in the same league as the apparently endless series of espionage scandals in and around Bonn in 1968 and 1969.

2. gen. A covenant, compact, alliance. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > association, fellowship, or companionship > [noun] > partnership

marrowship1407

league1509

coparceny1556

consortment1557

copartnership1574

partnership1576

coparcenary1593

yoke-fellowship1603

consortship1628

compartnership1634

copartnery1777

consortium1829

partnering1897

1509 S. Hawes Conuercyon Swerers (de Worde) 42 How that ye breke the lege of sothfastnesse.

1534 T. More Treat. Passion in Wks. 1325/2 Thys is the bloud of the leage, that oure Lorde hathe made with you vppon al these wordes.

1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 1851/1 Contrarye to the leagues and quietnesse of both the Realmes of England and Scotlande.

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III i. iii. 279 I will kisse thy hand In signe of league and amity with thee.

1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. x. 236 Though there be a league and simpathie betwixt golde and quicke-silver.

1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets xlvii. sig. D2^v Betwixt mine eye and heart a league is tooke.

1611 Bible (King James) 1 Sam. xxii. 8 My sonne hath made a league with the sonne of Iesse.

1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. i. ii. viii. 38 The Appetite..which by an admirable league of nature, and by mediation of the spirits, commands the Organe by which it moues.

1644 J. Milton tr. M. Bucer Ivdgem. conc. Divorce 10 Those duties..wherby the league of wedlock is chiefly preserv'd.

1645 J. Howell Epistolæ Ho-elianæ i. v. 11 Our first ligue of love, you know, was contracted amongst the Muses in Oxford.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 339 Linkt in happie nuptial League .

1831 D. Brewster Life I. Newton xvi. 295 By thus uniting philosophy with religion, he dissolved the league which genius had formed with scepticism.

1833 C. Lamb Barrenness Imaginative Faculty in Last Ess. Elia 179 What associating league to the imagination can there be between the seers, or the seers not, of a presential miracle?

3. Phr.

†a. to enter league: to make a covenant or alliance; to interleague v. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > associate for common purpose [verb (intransitive)]

jousta1325

ally?a1400

joinc1400

associe1441

confederc1460

to stick together1525

band1530

to join forces1560

colleaguec1565

alliance1569

to enter league1578

unite1579

interleague1590

confederate1591

to join hands1598

combine1608

injointa1616

combinda1626

bandy1633

comply1646

federate1648

leaguea1649

associate1653

coalesce1657

to understand each other1663

sociate1688

to row in the same (also in one) boat1787

rendezvous1817

to make common cause (with)1845

to sing the same song1846

cahoot1857

to gang up1910

jungle1922

society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > international agreements > [verb (intransitive)] > enter into alliance

ally?a1400

confederc1460

to fence a band1533

alliance1569

to enter league1578

confederate1591

leaguea1649

1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 9^v I studied..to enter league with such a one, as might direct my steps.

a1592 R. Greene Hist. Orlando Furioso (1594) sig. Ciii I meruaile Medor what my father meanes To enter league with Countie Sacrepant?

1619 E. M. Bolton tr. Florus Rom. Hist. 224 They did choose to enter league, when they could haue made an end of him.

b. in league with: having a compact with, allied with.

ΘΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > [adjective] > associated for common purpose

federeda1382

confedered1528

conjunct1529

adjoinate1543

confederate1555

in league with1565

associate1600

banded1601

combined1603

colleagued1605

confederated1605

contesserate1606

conjunctivea1616

conspired1619

coalesced1765

co-allied1765

leagued1781

federalized1793

federated1793

in cahoot(s) (with)18..

interleagued1844

federal1867

1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Fœderati,..confederate: in league, or alliance with.

1611 Bible (King James) Job v. 23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field.

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Ligué, leagued, in league with.

1808 W. Scott Marmion ii. vii. 84 Jealousy..With sordid avarice in league.

1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities i. ii. 4 For anybody on the road might be a robber or in league with robbers.

1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake II. ii. 31 Look you, villains, this fellow is in league with you.

4. Basket-making. (See quots.)

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from other vegetable fibres > [noun] > randed work or basketry > foundation or skeleton > foundation rod > specific

spoke1897

league1903

stake1903

by-stake1912

scallom1912

1903 T. Okey in R. M. Jacot Useful Cane Work i. p. ix When a single continuous cane is used as a combined bottom stick and stake it is termed a ‘League’.

1910 Encycl. Brit. III. 482/2 When the ‘bottom-stick’ and ‘stake’ are formed of one and the same continuous rod, it is termed a ‘league’.

Compounds

C1. General attributive.

league breaker n.

ΘΠ

society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > undutifulness > unfaithfulness > [noun] > breach of pledge or agreement > one who

warlockOE

prevaricatora1500

league breaker1561

break-vow1582

oath-breaker1601

break-promisea1616

1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. iv. f. 104 Beeyng receyued by the hande of a leaguebreaker preste.

1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 1184 When they took thee As a League-breaker .

league-fellow n.

ΘΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > association, fellowship, or companionship > a companion or associate > [noun] > ally

allyc1425

alliancec1475

help1490

lyance1502

fellow helper?1531

confederator1536

confederate1548

league-friend1556

league-fellow1561

alliant1565

associate1569

co-ally1606

colleague1670

alliancer1694

colleaguera1734

1561 J. Daus tr. H. Bullinger Hundred Serm. vpon Apocalips lvii. 383 The Gothians, and other leage fellowes of the people of Rome.

† league-friend n. Obsolete

ΘΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > association, fellowship, or companionship > a companion or associate > [noun] > ally

allyc1425

alliancec1475

help1490

lyance1502

fellow helper?1531

confederator1536

confederate1548

league-friend1556

league-fellow1561

alliant1565

associate1569

co-ally1606

colleague1670

alliancer1694

colleaguera1734

1556 N. Grimald tr. Cicero Thre Bks. Duties ii. f. 72^v Wars wer made, either for defense of leagfrendes, or for empire.

league-union n.

1639 H. Glapthorne Argalus & Parthenia iv. 39 Palmes (That do with amorous mixture twine their boughes Into a league-union).

C2. (In sense 1c.)

league championship n.

1901 Dundee Advertiser 4 Jan. 6 That [sc. Guiseley] Club winning the League championship.

1969 Official Baseball Rules 16 The League is a group of clubs whose teams play each other in a pre-arranged schedule under these rules for the league championship.

1972 G. Green Great Moments in Sport: Soccer iv. 58 The previous season Chelsea had won the League Championship of the First Division.

league club n.

1938 C. E. Sutcliffe et al. Story of Football League 14 A meeting of the League clubs was held on 8th February, 1909.

1973 News of the World Football Ann. 1973–4 163 (heading) Oldest League Clubs.

league cricket n.

1961 F. C. Avis Sportsman's Gloss. 125/2 League Cricket, that organized, outside the county championship, etc., in competitive league groups, e.g. the Central Lancashire League.

league football n.

1910 T. Charnley Let. 13 Jan. in C. E. Sutcliffe et al. Story of Football League (1938) 15 Reports are continually being received that the many unfair and unscrupulous tactics indulged in by some of the players engaged in League football are allowed to pass unpunished by the referees.

1959 I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren xvi. 350 The mid-century schoolchild's sporting enthusiasms are more taken up with league football, [etc.].

league footballer n.

1951 Football Record (Melbourne) 8 Sept. 18 Congratulations to Ron Clegg, who won the..award for the best League footballer of 1951.

league-game n.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > association football > [noun] > game or competition

league-game1895

World Cup1949

1895 Outing 27 251/2 If the American universities would send delegates to see our league games.

league match n.

1909 A. Bennett Matador of Five Towns (1912) 30 Knype had yet five League matches to play.

1973 Irish Times 2 Mar. 3/2 Cup ties are very different to league matches.

league player n.

1886 H. Chadwick Art of Pitching & Fielding 132 The following are the best fielding averages of the Eastern League players.

1938 C. E. Sutcliffe et al. Story of Football League 12 The forces outside the League were..ready to take away League players without paying anything for them.

league star n.

1967 Australian 26 Apr. 12 Injuries to many League stars.

league system n.

1899 G. O. Smith in M. Shearman et al. Football (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) (new ed.) 171 In accordance with the League system a certain number of clubs play home and home matches together.

1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVIII. 425/2 An elaboration of this competition is the ‘League system’ of the Association game. This..has not been popular with Rugby players. Still it is prevalent in many districts... In the League system a certain number of clubs form a league to play one another twice each season; two points are counted for a win, and one for a draw. The club which at the end of the season comes out with most points wins the competition.

league table n.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > winning, losing, or scoring > [noun] > league table

league table1912

the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > comparison > [noun] > instance of > of performance

league table1912

1912 Football Chart (Galba F. Stirling, Liverpool) Note position of Club each week in League Table and mark the ups or downs.

1930 Daily Express 6 Oct. 16 (heading) Saturday's League results and tables.

1959 Times 19 Mar. 12/2 He also recited with telling effect a ‘league table’ of unemployment percentages in western countries, ending with Great Britain as the lowest of all.

1967 L. Coulthard & B. Smith in G. Wills & R. Yearsley Handbk. Managem. Technol. 205 Large and expensive personnel departments, which maintain extensive records, card indexes, files, annual appraisal systems, charts, league tables, and so on.

1970 F. C. Avis Soccer Ref. Dict. (ed. 3) 57 League table, the statement of teams in relation to each other during the season, [etc.].

1972 Human World May 3 In 1971 they were half way up the ‘league table’ of wages instead of near the top.

1972 Times 11 July 2/7 A league table of tar and nicotine in most brands of cigarettes seems certain to be produced.

1973 C. Bonington Next Horizon ix. 131 Already a healthy element of competition was springing up between the big league climbers of the Alpine countries... This was a little like a League Table, which we all examined with care as we decided what to do next.

league-team n.

1899 G. O. Smith in M. Shearman et al. Football (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) (new ed.) 182 Four League teams.

Draft additions July 2009

in a league of one's own: in an unequalled or unique position; unsurpassed, esp. in excellence or performance. Cf. in a class of one's own at class n. and adj. Phrases 2.

1950 N.Y. Times 17 July (Business section) 29/6 Such a program in handling personnel, such friendliness and teamwork, sets this organization in a league of its own.

1977 Mother Jones June 14/2 AT&T is in a league of its own, with six times the business of the entire independent phone industry.

1996 C. Aaron Garlic is Life xii. 114 Robert's so far ahead of most of the so-called garden experts, he's in a league of his own.

2009 Times (Nexis) 18 Feb. (Sport section) 69 The English, European and world champions are in a league of their own as they pursue a fifteenth victory in 16 matches.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1902; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

leaguev.¹

Brit.

/liːɡ/, U.S.

/liɡ/

Etymology: < league n.² Compare French liguer, Italian legare.

1. transitive. To form or join into a league; to band together with; to confederate.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > associate with for common purpose [verb (transitive)] > bring into association

allyc1325

confeder1380

sociea1387

associate1398

sociate1485

companya1500

band1530

confederate1532

aggregate1534

colleague1535

join1560

enter1563

bandy1597

league1611

colligate1613

club1656

fraternize1656

federalize1787

brigade1831

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Ligué, leagued, in league with.

1633 P. Fletcher Poeticall Misc. 66 in Purple Island Wakeful ambition leagu'd with hastie pride.

1648 in S. R. Gardiner Hamilton Papers (1880) 219 France, Jermin, and the Parliament of England, are leagued to obstruct his designe.

a1649 W. Drummond Irene in Wks. (1711) 166 To League a People, is to make them know their Strength and Power.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 868 Out of my sight, thou Serpent, that name best Befits thee with him leagu'd .

1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. xii. 21 Then Neptune, with Apollo leagued, devised Its ruin.

1815 W. Wordsworth White Doe of Rylstone ii. 27 Two earls fast leagued in discontent.

1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People v. §6. 259 Hotspur..leagued himself with the Scots.

†2. To bind, connect, join. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > join (together) [verb (transitive)]

gatherc725

fayOE

samc1000

join1297

conjoinc1374

enjoinc1384

assemble1393

compound1393

sociea1398

annex?c1400

ferec1400

marrowc1400

combinec1440

annectc1450

piece?c1475

combind1477

conjunge1547

associate1578

knit1578

sinew1592

splinter1597

patch1604

accouple1605

interjoina1616

withjoina1627

league1645

contignate1651

to bring on1691

splice1803

pan1884

suture1886

1645 J. Howell Epistolæ Ho-elianæ i. xxxiv. 64 They began to build upon these small Islands,..and in tract of time, they conjoyn'd and leagu'd them together by Bridges.

1660 tr. M. Amyraut Treat. conc. Relig. iii. i. 304 The tyes that ligue us to God.

3. intransitive. To join in or form a league or alliance; to band together. Also to league against in indirect passive.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > associate for common purpose [verb (intransitive)]

jousta1325

ally?a1400

joinc1400

associe1441

confederc1460

to stick together1525

band1530

to join forces1560

colleaguec1565

alliance1569

to enter league1578

unite1579

interleague1590

confederate1591

to join hands1598

combine1608

injointa1616

combinda1626

bandy1633

comply1646

federate1648

leaguea1649

associate1653

coalesce1657

to understand each other1663

sociate1688

to row in the same (also in one) boat1787

rendezvous1817

to make common cause (with)1845

to sing the same song1846

cahoot1857

to gang up1910

jungle1922

society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > international agreements > [verb (intransitive)] > enter into alliance

ally?a1400

confederc1460

to fence a band1533

alliance1569

to enter league1578

confederate1591

leaguea1649

society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > associate with for common purpose [verb (transitive)] > against

to league against1720

a1649 W. Drummond Irene in Wks. (1711) 166 All the World seeth, that to League, is imperiously to command their King and Sovereign to cut short his Pinions.

1698 J. Crowne Caligula v. 44 I never knew they Leagu'd or Lov'd, till now.

1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 39 The King..began to see himself leagued against..both by Protestant and Papist.

1813 P. B. Shelley Queen Mab viii. 108 Where kings first leagued against the rights of men.

1822 P. B. Shelley Hellas 27 The tiger leagues not with the stag at bay Against the hunter.

1854 H. H. Milman Hist. Lat. Christianity I. iii. iii. 315 Theodoric..left..the Bishop of Rome..to league with the rebellious subjects of Byzantium against the eastern Emperor.

Derivatives

leagued adj. confederate.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > [adjective] > associated for common purpose

federeda1382

confedered1528

conjunct1529

adjoinate1543

confederate1555

in league with1565

associate1600

banded1601

combined1603

colleagued1605

confederated1605

contesserate1606

conjunctivea1616

conspired1619

coalesced1765

co-allied1765

leagued1781

federalized1793

federated1793

in cahoot(s) (with)18..

interleagued1844

federal1867

society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > international agreements > [adjective] > relating to alliance > allied

confedered1528

confederate1555

confederated1605

federate1672

leagued1781

federal1867

1781 G. Crabbe Library 10 Where first the proud, the great, In leagu'd assembly keep their cumbrous state.

1799 T. Campbell Pleasures of Hope & Other Poems i. 351 When leagu'd Oppression pour'd to Northern wars Her whisker'd pandoors and her fierce hussars.

1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna ii. xiv. 39 A tower whose marble walls the leagued storms withstand.

1821 J. Baillie W. Wallace in Metrical Legends xxvii These are the leagued for Scotland's native right.

1845 S. Austin tr. L. von Ranke Hist. Reformation in Germany III. 499 The leagued states.

ˈleaguing n.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > [noun] > action of

fasteningOE

confederationc1425

confedering1530

banding1593

bandying1599

coalescence1609

associating1644

concorporating1648

federation1652

confederating1687

fraternizing1793

colleaguing1817

leaguing1841

ganging1891

gang-up1936

gang-banging1966

society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > international agreements > [noun] > alliance or confederacy > action of

confederationc1425

federation1652

leaguing1841

1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge xxxvi. 143 They can sustain no harm from leaguing for this purpose.

1869 Daily News 8 Mar. His actual leaguing with the Scots against the independence of England.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1902; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	league
释义	leaguen.¹ Brit. /liːɡ/, U.S. /liɡ/ Forms: Middle English leghe, Middle English–1500s lege, leuge, (Middle English lewge, Middle English lewke, leuke, leeke), Middle English–1500s leege, 1500s legge, le(a)que, Scottish lig, 1500s–1600s leag(e, 1500s– league. Etymology: Late Middle English leuge, lege, leghe, etc., < late Latin leuga, leuca (= late Greek λεύγη, λεύκη), according to Hesychius and Jordanes a Gaulish word; hence Old French liue, liwe (modern French lieue), Provençal lega, legua, Catalan llegua, Spanish legua, Portuguese legoa, Italian lega. An itinerary measure of distance, varying in different countries, but usually estimated roughly at about 3 miles; apparently never in regular use in England, but often occurring in poetical or rhetorical statements of distance. marine league n. a unit of distance = 3 nautical miles or 3041 fathoms. Although the league appears never to have been an English measure, leuca occurs somewhat frequently in Anglo-Latin law-books (Bracton, Fleta, etc.); it is disputed whether in these works it means one mile or two. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement of length > [noun] > units of length or distance > league leaguea1387 the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement of length > [noun] > units of length or distance > league > nautical league1555 sea-league1903 a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1874) V. 245 Þanne þey come to giders in þe feeldes Cathalmytes, þat conteyneþ an hondred leges [v.rr. leuges, leghes, 1432–50 lewkes] in lengþe and seventy in brede. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xv. xxii. 738 Þe walles [of Babylon] were [yholde] in tweye leges and in tweye dele offe oone lege. c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (Roxb.) viii. 28 Þis ile es cccl. leeges aboute. 1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) iv. i. 158 After the maner of lombardye they be callid myles, and in france leukes, and in englong they be callid mylis also. 1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 223/2 Mount Joye..is but half a leeke fro seynt James. c1503 R. Arnold Chron. f. lxvi/1 xvi furlong make a frensh leuge [printed lenge]. a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. lxxxv. f. xxxiii An Hundreth Legis..wherof euery Lege conteyneth .iii. Englysshe myles. c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lxxxvii. 275 A stronge castell with in a .iii. legges of Burdeux. 1528 D. Lindsay Dreme 642–4 The quantytie of the erth Circuleir Is fyftie thousand liggis..Deuidyng, aye, ane lig in mylis two. 1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde i. i. f. 1^v Such as are expert sea men, affyrme that euery league conteyneth foure myles. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 57 The Gretians [measure] by furlonges: the Spaniardes, and French men by leques. 1594 T. Blundeville Exercises iii. ii. vi. f. 181^v The French league containeth two of our miles, the Spanish league three, and the common league of Germany foure, and the great league of Germanie containeth fiue of our miles. a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 145 They hurried vs a-boord a Barke, Bore vs some Leagues to Sea. View more context for this quotation 1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth I. 42 At Touraine, in France..there is a plain of about nine leagues long, and as many broad. a1824 Ld. Byron Childe Harold iv. in Wks. (1837) 48/1 I never yet saw the picture..which came a league within my conception. 1828 J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner 268 A league at sea..contains 3000 geometrical paces, or 3 English miles. 1843 G. Borrow Bible in Spain ii. xii.251 The village of Finisterra was distant about a league and a half. 1845 R. Ford Hand-bk. Travellers in Spain I. i. 15 The Spanish league is somewhat less than three miles and a half English. 1855 Ld. Tennyson Charge Light Brigade i, in Maud & Other Poems 151 Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward. 1878 R. Browning La Saisiaz 25 Can I..sharpen ear to recognize Sound o'er league and league of silence? Compounds league-long adj. that extends the length of a league. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement of length > [adjective] > a league long or wide league-wide1843 league-long1883 1883 A. C. Swinburne Les Casquettes xxiv Forth she fared..For a league-long raid on the bounding brine. 1885 Ld. Tennyson Charge Heavy Brigade Prol. in Tiresias & Other Poems 165 The league-long rampart-fire. league-wide adj. poetic ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement of length > [adjective] > a league long or wide league-wide1843 league-long1883 1843 J. R. Lowell Prometheus in Poems (1844) 83 The vast Sarmatian plain, league-wide. 1848 J. R. Lowell Poems 2nd Ser. 11 Some league-wide river. 1951 W. de la Mare Winged Chariot 56 Life's league-wide cornfields. 1957 R. Campbell Coll. Poems II. 254 Across a league-wide valley, white with sprays. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1902; most recently modified version published online March 2022). leaguen.² Brit. /liːɡ/, U.S. /liɡ/ Forms: Middle English ligg, (? Middle English–) 1500s leage, Scottish lig, 1500s lege, liage, leag(ge, Scottish leig, lyge, lyig, 1500s–1600s ligue, leaug(e, 1500s– league. Etymology: The form ligue, lig, is < French ligue, < Italian liga, variant of lega, verbal noun < legare to bind < Latin ligāre. The form le(a)ge is perhaps < Italian lega. 1. a. A military, political, or commercial covenant or compact made between parties for their mutual protection and assistance against a common enemy, the prosecution or safeguarding of joint interests, and the like; a body of states or persons associated in such a covenant, a confederacy. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > [noun] > an alliance or association for common purpose confederacya1387 league1452 allya1481 confedereya1513 consociation1603 closea1616 party1624 combinement1658 collegationa1700 confederateship1715 consortium1881 society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > international agreements > [noun] > alliance or confederacy > an alliance confederacya1387 fellowshipa1400 band1452 league1452 societyc1540 federacy1598 confederation1621 1452 in P. F. Tytler Hist. Scotl. (1864) II. 387 I..binds and obliss me, that I shall make na bond, na ligg..quhilk sall be contrar till his heines. 1509 J. Fisher Serm. Henry VIJ (de Worde) sig. Aij^v Leages and confederyes he hadde with all crysten prynces. 1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid iii. vii. 63 And this same lyge with our posteritie Sall euir remane in faith and vnite. 1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Bij^v The cytiezins of Aden had..made a leage with the Portugales. 1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 132 This Leauge or band being maid betueine the king and the hail natione. 1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 262 To make a Leagge or band w^t the Scotis and Peichtis against the Jnglismen. 1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII i. i. 95 France hath flaw'd the League, and hath attach'd Our Merchants goods at Burdeux. View more context for this quotation 1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxii. 121 Leagues are commonly made for mutuall defence. 1678 C. Hatton in E. M. Thompson Corr. Family of Hatton (1878) I. 160 Y^e league offensive and defensive w^th y^e States Gen^ll. a1781 R. Watson Hist. Reign Philip III (1783) i. 22 Count Hohenloe was in Germany, employed in exciting the princes of the league of Munster to take the field against the Spaniards. 1858 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. (ed. 2) III. xvii. 451 The danger of a Protestant league compelled the Catholic powers to bury their rivalries. b. spec. in Historical use. the League, (a) a league formed in 1576 under the direction of the Guises, to prevent the accession of Henry IV to the French throne; (b) = League of Nations n. Holy League, a name given to several leagues in European history, as that formed by Pope Julius II against the French in 1511 and the Nuremberg League of 1538. Hanseatic, Latin League: see these adjectives. Solemn League and Covenant: see covenant n. 9a.By writers on ancient history the word is used in the designation of certain confederations of states, as the Aetolian league, the Amphictyonic league, etc. ΘΚΠ society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > international agreements > [noun] > alliance or confederacy > an alliance > specific alliances auld alliance1566 the League1589 armed neutrality1780 German Confederation1786 Germanic Confederation1815 Holy Alliance1823 the Concert of Europe1841 Sonderbund1847 Triplice1896 Soviet block1919 communist bloc1922 Eastern bloc1922 Soviet bloc1924 axis1936 Rome–Berlin Axis1936 Eastern block1938 communist block1941 Western European Union1944 Arab League1945 Western Union1948 Atlantic Pact1949 NATO1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization1949 Seato1954 W.E.U.1954 Warsaw Pact1955 Atlantic Alliance1958 ASEAN1967 G201972 society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > international agreements > [noun] > alliance or confederacy > an alliance > of Greek states the League1838 society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > [noun] > League of Nations League of Nations1915 the League1917 1589 I. L. (title) The Birth, Purpose, and mortal Wound of the Romish holie League. 1684 J. Dryden (title) The history of the League. Written in French by M. Maimbourg. Translated into English. 1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Leaguer, one concern'd in the League or Confederacy in France, in the time of King Henry III and IV. 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) The League is used by way of Eminence for that famous one on foot in France, from the Year 1576, to 1593. 1769 W. Robertson Hist. Charles V II. iv. 267 The King of England was declared Protector of this league, which they dignified with the name of Holy, because the Pope was at the head of it. 1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece (new ed.) I. 375 The Amphictyonic league or council. 1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece (new ed.) III. 39 The Delphians..were..induced..to renounce their union with the Phocian league. 1861 T. H. Dyer Mod. Europe II. 194 An alliance against the Sultan, called the Holy League, was..concluded between himself [Pius V], Philip II., and the Venetians. 1861 T. H. Dyer Mod. Europe II. 450 The Catholic States of the Circles of Suabia and Bavaria agreed to enter into an alliance which afterwards obtained the name of the Holy League. 1917 H. N. Brailsford League of Nations 324 Without the firm resolve to make the League itself an article, and the first article, in the settlement, our need of security will drive us inevitably to other expedients. The settlement, unless the idea of the League penetrates it and inspires it, must draw its principle from the older statecraft of anarchy and force. 1919 J. M. O'Sullivan in Studies Dec. 577 Had not the basal idea of the League been thus early repudiated. 1936 A. Huxley Let. 2 Mar. (1969) 401 The..atmosphere wd be cleared and a chance given for the reconstruction of the League on a more satisfactory basis. 1944 J. S. Huxley On Living in Revol. iii. 32 The failure of the League merely served to underline the urgent need for some international political organization. 1950 W. Theimer & P. Campbell Encycl. World Politics 260/1 The Assembly did not meet again until April 1946, when it decided to dissolve the League, already replaced by the United Nations. 1952 Oxf. Junior Encycl. X. 212/2 When the United States Congress repudiated President Wilson's proposals and failed to join the League, its hope of real success was small. 1971 W. H. McNeill in A. Bullock 20th Cent. 47/1 Should a government defy the League..all the League members would be obliged to..check aggression by imposing sanctions. c. In recent times often adopted in the names of certain associations of individuals or of societies for some common object. Anti-Corn-Law League: a political association formed in 1838 to procure the abolition of the existing Corn Laws. Football League: see quot. 1899². Land, Primrose, Reform League: see these nouns. Similarly, Baseball League, Cricket League. Also elliptically League. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social relations > an association, society, or organization > types of association, society, or organization > [noun] > other types of association, society, or organization invisible college1647 rota1660 working party1744 free association1761 working committee1821 Ethical Society1822 bar association1824 league1846 congress1870 tiger1874 cult1875 Daughters of the American Revolution1890 community group1892 housing association1898 working party1902 development agency1910 affinity group1915 propaganda machine1916 funding body1922 collective1925 Ku-Klux1930 network1946 NGO1946 production brigade1950 umbrella organization1950 plantation1956 think-tank1958 think group1961 team1990 society > authority > rule or government > politics > British politics > British political associations > [noun] > Anti-Corn-Law League league1846 society > leisure > sport > player or sportsperson > [noun] > team or group > group of teams league1879 conference1905 society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > association football > [noun] > league or division Football League1889 table1896 premier league1898 division1899 1846 Duke of Wellington in Croker Papers (1884) III. xxiv. 51 There were no persons in that assembly capable of sustaining in debate the existing Corn Law against Cobden and the League. 1879 Chicago Tribune 17 May 7/5 A misunderstanding has arisen as to the condition of the Cleveland Club, and its inability to play, which will end in an appeal to the League. 1883 Catholic Dict. (1896) 554 The Catholic Total Abstinence League of the Cross was founded in 1873. 1883 Whitaker's Almanack 227/2 National Sunday League,..National Temperance League. 1889 Whitaker's Almanack 564/1 A Football League has been formed, including twelve of the leading North and Midland clubs... These clubs play a sort of American tournament for the League Championship. 1891 Amer. Cricket Ann. 10 The organisation of the Metropolitan District Cricket League was certainly a move in the right direction. 1892 Athletic News Cricket Ann. 51 Lancashire Cricket League... This organisation..has done for cricket what the League has done for football. 1892 J. A. Leighton (title) Leighton's North-Western Rugby Football League card. Season 1892–93. 1894 Athletic News 5 Nov. 1/2 The position of Notts in the League is occasioning very considerable anxiety. 1899 Ld. Aldenham Colloquy on Currency (1900) Pref. 9 They even proposed to hear me, as president of the Bimetallic League. 1899 G. O. Smith in M. Shearman et al. Football (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) (new ed.) 170 It was at this stage Mr. MacGregor..brought forward his idea of a football union between the leading clubs of the day... The following twelve clubs were invited to form a union between themselves... Thus was the League formed. 1899 G. O. Smith in M. Shearman et al. Football (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) (new ed.) 171 The League was formed chiefly for the purpose of insuring a series of first-class games [etc.]. 1910 Encycl. Brit. IX. 622/1 In 1888 the Football League, a combination of professional clubs of the north and midlands of England, was formed. 1921 A. Huxley Crome Yellow ii. 13 All the players in all the teams of the League. 1930 J. Williamson Amer. Hotel 293 The Broadway Central has been the scene of several noteworthy episodes. It was there that the National League was organized in 1876. 1935 Encycl. Sports, Games & Pastimes 187/2 A number of [cricket] clubs form themselves into a league; each plays all the others in turn, and the championship of the league falls to the one which wins the most matches. 1935 Encycl. Sports, Games & Pastimes 292/2 The first league, the Football League, was then formed [in 1888]. 1951 Football Record (Melbourne) 8 Sept. 12 Approximately 300 visiting schoolboys were recently entertained by the League at the Melbourne ground. 1957 Encycl. Brit. III. 159/2 The professional [baseball] clubs usually compete as members of leagues. 1960 B. Liddell My Soccer Story vii. 48 For years the Football Association and the Football League have been trying to help players to prepare for the new life ahead when they finish with football. 1969 Listener 20 Mar. 384/2 I cannot believe he would still maintain that Rugby League backs ‘usually run across instead of straight’. 1973 News of the World Football Ann. 1973–4 78 (heading) Football League—Division One. 1973 News of the World Football Ann. 1973–4 100 Re-elected to Division [One] when League was extended after the war. 1974 Daily Record (Glasgow) 15 Apr. 27/2 Yesterday Stein admitted, ‘The League is almost won. We know that!’ 1974 Guardian 1 Aug. 22/8 It is not possible to be wrapped up in all the competitions and win them as the League exists at present. †d. A document in which the terms of a league are set down. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > international agreements > [noun] > alliance or confederacy > document embodying league1642 1642 C. Vernon Considerations Excheqver 43 The Treasury, where the ancient Leagues of the Realme..and divers other ancient Records doe lye. 1652 M. Nedham tr. J. Selden Of Dominion of Sea 89 The Transcripts of Leagues and Treaties. e. transferred and figurative. Cf. big league adj. and n. ΘΠ society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > persons of same profession, occupation, or pursuits ordera1382 set1682 league1935 1935 J. T. Farrell Judgment Day viii. 185 You better go back and play in a grammar-school league. 1959 N. Mailer Advts. for Myself (1961) 389 You want to keep a girl who was born to travel in a big league. 1961 Listener 12 Oct. 547/1 At the Riga brewery..I saw a notice board with the photographs of the twelve workers who were topping the production league. 1965 Listener 23 Sept. 446/1 The English-speaking peoples are excellent at breakfasts, but after that they would scarcely claim to stand high in the gastronomic league. 1966 J. Chamier Cannonball xii. 115 She's out of your league, me lad, and you'll take a most almighty toss. 1970 Washington Post 30 Sept. B. 4/3 In such a league Paul Mellon has impeccable collections. 1971 Austral. Seacraft June 17/2 To join the big league [in speedboating]. 1971 Where Oct. 293/2 Neill has a lightness of touch, and a flair for comedy that were in the Wodehouse league. 1972 New Society 27 Jan. 187/1 Rory Gallagher, a minor league superstar blues guitarist. 1972 ‘M. Yorke’ Silent Witness v. 121 She was bored because he obviously wasn't in her league. 1973 Times 22 Feb. 5/3 The latest incident is not in the same league as the apparently endless series of espionage scandals in and around Bonn in 1968 and 1969. 2. gen. A covenant, compact, alliance. Now rare. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social relations > association, fellowship, or companionship > [noun] > partnership marrowship1407 league1509 coparceny1556 consortment1557 copartnership1574 partnership1576 coparcenary1593 yoke-fellowship1603 consortship1628 compartnership1634 copartnery1777 consortium1829 partnering1897 1509 S. Hawes Conuercyon Swerers (de Worde) 42 How that ye breke the lege of sothfastnesse. 1534 T. More Treat. Passion in Wks. 1325/2 Thys is the bloud of the leage, that oure Lorde hathe made with you vppon al these wordes. 1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 1851/1 Contrarye to the leagues and quietnesse of both the Realmes of England and Scotlande. 1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III i. iii. 279 I will kisse thy hand In signe of league and amity with thee. View more context for this quotation 1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. x. 236 Though there be a league and simpathie betwixt golde and quicke-silver. 1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets xlvii. sig. D2^v Betwixt mine eye and heart a league is tooke. View more context for this quotation 1611 Bible (King James) 1 Sam. xxii. 8 My sonne hath made a league with the sonne of Iesse. View more context for this quotation 1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. i. ii. viii. 38 The Appetite..which by an admirable league of nature, and by mediation of the spirits, commands the Organe by which it moues. 1644 J. Milton tr. M. Bucer Ivdgem. conc. Divorce 10 Those duties..wherby the league of wedlock is chiefly preserv'd. 1645 J. Howell Epistolæ Ho-elianæ i. v. 11 Our first ligue of love, you know, was contracted amongst the Muses in Oxford. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iv. 339 Linkt in happie nuptial League . View more context for this quotation 1831 D. Brewster Life I. Newton xvi. 295 By thus uniting philosophy with religion, he dissolved the league which genius had formed with scepticism. 1833 C. Lamb Barrenness Imaginative Faculty in Last Ess. Elia 179 What associating league to the imagination can there be between the seers, or the seers not, of a presential miracle? 3. Phr. †a. to enter league: to make a covenant or alliance; to interleague v. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > associate for common purpose [verb (intransitive)] jousta1325 ally?a1400 joinc1400 associe1441 confederc1460 to stick together1525 band1530 to join forces1560 colleaguec1565 alliance1569 to enter league1578 unite1579 interleague1590 confederate1591 to join hands1598 combine1608 injointa1616 combinda1626 bandy1633 comply1646 federate1648 leaguea1649 associate1653 coalesce1657 to understand each other1663 sociate1688 to row in the same (also in one) boat1787 rendezvous1817 to make common cause (with)1845 to sing the same song1846 cahoot1857 to gang up1910 jungle1922 society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > international agreements > [verb (intransitive)] > enter into alliance ally?a1400 confederc1460 to fence a band1533 alliance1569 to enter league1578 confederate1591 leaguea1649 1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 9^v I studied..to enter league with such a one, as might direct my steps. a1592 R. Greene Hist. Orlando Furioso (1594) sig. Ciii I meruaile Medor what my father meanes To enter league with Countie Sacrepant? 1619 E. M. Bolton tr. Florus Rom. Hist. 224 They did choose to enter league, when they could haue made an end of him. b. in league with: having a compact with, allied with. ΘΠ society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > [adjective] > associated for common purpose federeda1382 confedered1528 conjunct1529 adjoinate1543 confederate1555 in league with1565 associate1600 banded1601 combined1603 colleagued1605 confederated1605 contesserate1606 conjunctivea1616 conspired1619 coalesced1765 co-allied1765 leagued1781 federalized1793 federated1793 in cahoot(s) (with)18.. interleagued1844 federal1867 1565 T. Cooper Thesaurus Fœderati,..confederate: in league, or alliance with. 1611 Bible (King James) Job v. 23 For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field. View more context for this quotation 1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Ligué, leagued, in league with. 1808 W. Scott Marmion ii. vii. 84 Jealousy..With sordid avarice in league. 1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities i. ii. 4 For anybody on the road might be a robber or in league with robbers. 1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake II. ii. 31 Look you, villains, this fellow is in league with you. 4. Basket-making. (See quots.) ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from other vegetable fibres > [noun] > randed work or basketry > foundation or skeleton > foundation rod > specific spoke1897 league1903 stake1903 by-stake1912 scallom1912 1903 T. Okey in R. M. Jacot Useful Cane Work i. p. ix When a single continuous cane is used as a combined bottom stick and stake it is termed a ‘League’. 1910 Encycl. Brit. III. 482/2 When the ‘bottom-stick’ and ‘stake’ are formed of one and the same continuous rod, it is termed a ‘league’. Compounds C1. General attributive. league breaker n. ΘΠ society > morality > duty or obligation > recognition of duty > undutifulness > unfaithfulness > [noun] > breach of pledge or agreement > one who warlockOE prevaricatora1500 league breaker1561 break-vow1582 oath-breaker1601 break-promisea1616 1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. iv. f. 104 Beeyng receyued by the hande of a leaguebreaker preste. 1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 1184 When they took thee As a League-breaker . View more context for this quotation league-fellow n. ΘΠ society > society and the community > social relations > association, fellowship, or companionship > a companion or associate > [noun] > ally allyc1425 alliancec1475 help1490 lyance1502 fellow helper?1531 confederator1536 confederate1548 league-friend1556 league-fellow1561 alliant1565 associate1569 co-ally1606 colleague1670 alliancer1694 colleaguera1734 1561 J. Daus tr. H. Bullinger Hundred Serm. vpon Apocalips lvii. 383 The Gothians, and other leage fellowes of the people of Rome. † league-friend n. Obsolete ΘΠ society > society and the community > social relations > association, fellowship, or companionship > a companion or associate > [noun] > ally allyc1425 alliancec1475 help1490 lyance1502 fellow helper?1531 confederator1536 confederate1548 league-friend1556 league-fellow1561 alliant1565 associate1569 co-ally1606 colleague1670 alliancer1694 colleaguera1734 1556 N. Grimald tr. Cicero Thre Bks. Duties ii. f. 72^v Wars wer made, either for defense of leagfrendes, or for empire. league-union n. Π 1639 H. Glapthorne Argalus & Parthenia iv. 39 Palmes (That do with amorous mixture twine their boughes Into a league-union). C2. (In sense 1c.) league championship n. Π 1901 Dundee Advertiser 4 Jan. 6 That [sc. Guiseley] Club winning the League championship. 1969 Official Baseball Rules 16 The League is a group of clubs whose teams play each other in a pre-arranged schedule under these rules for the league championship. 1972 G. Green Great Moments in Sport: Soccer iv. 58 The previous season Chelsea had won the League Championship of the First Division. league club n. Π 1938 C. E. Sutcliffe et al. Story of Football League 14 A meeting of the League clubs was held on 8th February, 1909. 1973 News of the World Football Ann. 1973–4 163 (heading) Oldest League Clubs. league cricket n. Π 1961 F. C. Avis Sportsman's Gloss. 125/2 League Cricket, that organized, outside the county championship, etc., in competitive league groups, e.g. the Central Lancashire League. league football n. Π 1910 T. Charnley Let. 13 Jan. in C. E. Sutcliffe et al. Story of Football League (1938) 15 Reports are continually being received that the many unfair and unscrupulous tactics indulged in by some of the players engaged in League football are allowed to pass unpunished by the referees. 1959 I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren xvi. 350 The mid-century schoolchild's sporting enthusiasms are more taken up with league football, [etc.]. league footballer n. Π 1951 Football Record (Melbourne) 8 Sept. 18 Congratulations to Ron Clegg, who won the..award for the best League footballer of 1951. league-game n. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > association football > [noun] > game or competition league-game1895 World Cup1949 1895 Outing 27 251/2 If the American universities would send delegates to see our league games. league match n. Π 1909 A. Bennett Matador of Five Towns (1912) 30 Knype had yet five League matches to play. 1973 Irish Times 2 Mar. 3/2 Cup ties are very different to league matches. league player n. Π 1886 H. Chadwick Art of Pitching & Fielding 132 The following are the best fielding averages of the Eastern League players. 1938 C. E. Sutcliffe et al. Story of Football League 12 The forces outside the League were..ready to take away League players without paying anything for them. league star n. Π 1967 Australian 26 Apr. 12 Injuries to many League stars. league system n. Π 1899 G. O. Smith in M. Shearman et al. Football (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) (new ed.) 171 In accordance with the League system a certain number of clubs play home and home matches together. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVIII. 425/2 An elaboration of this competition is the ‘League system’ of the Association game. This..has not been popular with Rugby players. Still it is prevalent in many districts... In the League system a certain number of clubs form a league to play one another twice each season; two points are counted for a win, and one for a draw. The club which at the end of the season comes out with most points wins the competition. league table n. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > winning, losing, or scoring > [noun] > league table league table1912 the mind > attention and judgement > discovery > comparison > [noun] > instance of > of performance league table1912 1912 Football Chart (Galba F. Stirling, Liverpool) Note position of Club each week in League Table and mark the ups or downs. 1930 Daily Express 6 Oct. 16 (heading) Saturday's League results and tables. 1959 Times 19 Mar. 12/2 He also recited with telling effect a ‘league table’ of unemployment percentages in western countries, ending with Great Britain as the lowest of all. 1967 L. Coulthard & B. Smith in G. Wills & R. Yearsley Handbk. Managem. Technol. 205 Large and expensive personnel departments, which maintain extensive records, card indexes, files, annual appraisal systems, charts, league tables, and so on. 1970 F. C. Avis Soccer Ref. Dict. (ed. 3) 57 League table, the statement of teams in relation to each other during the season, [etc.]. 1972 Human World May 3 In 1971 they were half way up the ‘league table’ of wages instead of near the top. 1972 Times 11 July 2/7 A league table of tar and nicotine in most brands of cigarettes seems certain to be produced. 1973 C. Bonington Next Horizon ix. 131 Already a healthy element of competition was springing up between the big league climbers of the Alpine countries... This was a little like a League Table, which we all examined with care as we decided what to do next. league-team n. Π 1899 G. O. Smith in M. Shearman et al. Football (Badminton Libr. of Sports & Pastimes) (new ed.) 182 Four League teams. Draft additions July 2009 in a league of one's own: in an unequalled or unique position; unsurpassed, esp. in excellence or performance. Cf. in a class of one's own at class n. and adj. Phrases 2. Π 1950 N.Y. Times 17 July (Business section) 29/6 Such a program in handling personnel, such friendliness and teamwork, sets this organization in a league of its own. 1977 Mother Jones June 14/2 AT&T is in a league of its own, with six times the business of the entire independent phone industry. 1996 C. Aaron Garlic is Life xii. 114 Robert's so far ahead of most of the so-called garden experts, he's in a league of his own. 2009 Times (Nexis) 18 Feb. (Sport section) 69 The English, European and world champions are in a league of their own as they pursue a fifteenth victory in 16 matches. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1902; most recently modified version published online March 2022). leaguev.¹ Brit. /liːɡ/, U.S. /liɡ/ Etymology: < league n.² Compare French liguer, Italian legare. 1. transitive. To form or join into a league; to band together with; to confederate. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > associate with for common purpose [verb (transitive)] > bring into association allyc1325 confeder1380 sociea1387 associate1398 sociate1485 companya1500 band1530 confederate1532 aggregate1534 colleague1535 join1560 enter1563 bandy1597 league1611 colligate1613 club1656 fraternize1656 federalize1787 brigade1831 1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Ligué, leagued, in league with. 1633 P. Fletcher Poeticall Misc. 66 in Purple Island Wakeful ambition leagu'd with hastie pride. 1648 in S. R. Gardiner Hamilton Papers (1880) 219 France, Jermin, and the Parliament of England, are leagued to obstruct his designe. a1649 W. Drummond Irene in Wks. (1711) 166 To League a People, is to make them know their Strength and Power. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 868 Out of my sight, thou Serpent, that name best Befits thee with him leagu'd . View more context for this quotation 1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. xii. 21 Then Neptune, with Apollo leagued, devised Its ruin. 1815 W. Wordsworth White Doe of Rylstone ii. 27 Two earls fast leagued in discontent. 1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People v. §6. 259 Hotspur..leagued himself with the Scots. †2. To bind, connect, join. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fact or action of being joined or joining > join (together) [verb (transitive)] gatherc725 fayOE samc1000 join1297 conjoinc1374 enjoinc1384 assemble1393 compound1393 sociea1398 annex?c1400 ferec1400 marrowc1400 combinec1440 annectc1450 piece?c1475 combind1477 conjunge1547 associate1578 knit1578 sinew1592 splinter1597 patch1604 accouple1605 interjoina1616 withjoina1627 league1645 contignate1651 to bring on1691 splice1803 pan1884 suture1886 1645 J. Howell Epistolæ Ho-elianæ i. xxxiv. 64 They began to build upon these small Islands,..and in tract of time, they conjoyn'd and leagu'd them together by Bridges. 1660 tr. M. Amyraut Treat. conc. Relig. iii. i. 304 The tyes that ligue us to God. 3. intransitive. To join in or form a league or alliance; to band together. Also to league against in indirect passive. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > associate for common purpose [verb (intransitive)] jousta1325 ally?a1400 joinc1400 associe1441 confederc1460 to stick together1525 band1530 to join forces1560 colleaguec1565 alliance1569 to enter league1578 unite1579 interleague1590 confederate1591 to join hands1598 combine1608 injointa1616 combinda1626 bandy1633 comply1646 federate1648 leaguea1649 associate1653 coalesce1657 to understand each other1663 sociate1688 to row in the same (also in one) boat1787 rendezvous1817 to make common cause (with)1845 to sing the same song1846 cahoot1857 to gang up1910 jungle1922 society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > international agreements > [verb (intransitive)] > enter into alliance ally?a1400 confederc1460 to fence a band1533 alliance1569 to enter league1578 confederate1591 leaguea1649 society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > associate with for common purpose [verb (transitive)] > against to league against1720 a1649 W. Drummond Irene in Wks. (1711) 166 All the World seeth, that to League, is imperiously to command their King and Sovereign to cut short his Pinions. 1698 J. Crowne Caligula v. 44 I never knew they Leagu'd or Lov'd, till now. 1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 39 The King..began to see himself leagued against..both by Protestant and Papist. 1813 P. B. Shelley Queen Mab viii. 108 Where kings first leagued against the rights of men. 1822 P. B. Shelley Hellas 27 The tiger leagues not with the stag at bay Against the hunter. 1854 H. H. Milman Hist. Lat. Christianity I. iii. iii. 315 Theodoric..left..the Bishop of Rome..to league with the rebellious subjects of Byzantium against the eastern Emperor. Derivatives leagued adj. confederate. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > [adjective] > associated for common purpose federeda1382 confedered1528 conjunct1529 adjoinate1543 confederate1555 in league with1565 associate1600 banded1601 combined1603 colleagued1605 confederated1605 contesserate1606 conjunctivea1616 conspired1619 coalesced1765 co-allied1765 leagued1781 federalized1793 federated1793 in cahoot(s) (with)18.. interleagued1844 federal1867 society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > international agreements > [adjective] > relating to alliance > allied confedered1528 confederate1555 confederated1605 federate1672 leagued1781 federal1867 1781 G. Crabbe Library 10 Where first the proud, the great, In leagu'd assembly keep their cumbrous state. 1799 T. Campbell Pleasures of Hope & Other Poems i. 351 When leagu'd Oppression pour'd to Northern wars Her whisker'd pandoors and her fierce hussars. 1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna ii. xiv. 39 A tower whose marble walls the leagued storms withstand. 1821 J. Baillie W. Wallace in Metrical Legends xxvii These are the leagued for Scotland's native right. 1845 S. Austin tr. L. von Ranke Hist. Reformation in Germany III. 499 The leagued states. ˈleaguing n. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social relations > association for a common purpose > [noun] > action of fasteningOE confederationc1425 confedering1530 banding1593 bandying1599 coalescence1609 associating1644 concorporating1648 federation1652 confederating1687 fraternizing1793 colleaguing1817 leaguing1841 ganging1891 gang-up1936 gang-banging1966 society > authority > rule or government > politics > international politics or relations > international agreements > [noun] > alliance or confederacy > action of confederationc1425 federation1652 leaguing1841 1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge xxxvi. 143 They can sustain no harm from leaguing for this purpose. 1869 Daily News 8 Mar. His actual leaguing with the Scots against the independence of England. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1902; most recently modified version published online March 2022). † leaguev.² Etymology: < French légue-r, < Latin lēgāre. Obsolete. rare. transitive. To bequeath. ΘΚΠ society > law > transfer of property > testamentary disposition > bequeath by will [verb (transitive)] leaveOE bequeath1066 queatha1325 let1340 dowc1374 bequest1394 wit1394 devise1395 give1420 willc1460 test1491 legacy1546 legate1546 league1623 legatee1797 1623 tr. A. Favyn Theater of Honour & Knight-hood v. i. 40 By his testament he leagued Normandie to Robert his eldest Sonne. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1902; most recently modified version published online March 2021). < n.¹a1387n.²1452v.¹1611v.²1623
随便看	the masses the mast the master the master of the sentences the master's eye makes the horse fat the masters the masters' the masthead the matter the matter of the maturity of chances the maturity of the chances the max the mccoy the mean season the meanest the meaning of life the meantime the meanwhile the meanwhile that the melting mood the meltings the memory of the memsahib the men's day

leaguen.1

Compounds

leaguen.2

Compounds

Draft additions July 2009

leaguev.1

Derivatives

† leaguev.2

leaguen.¹

leaguen.²

leaguev.¹

† leaguev.²