League

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /liːɡ/

Definitions

1. A traditional measurement equal to about three miles ; an organization of sports teams that compete against each other ; an alliance or coalition formed between people or countries for a common purpose
2. A fixed length often used in older times to measure distance, roughly three miles ; a body that manages competition among athletic clubs or teams ; a partnership between groups or states for mutual benefit
3. A unit of length representing approximately three miles ; a structured competition involving sports teams ; a formal union or agreement among groups or nations to achieve shared goals

Etymology: The word actually has two unrelated histories that happen to have landed on the same spelling. The distance sense comes from Gaulish, not Latin: "leuca" or "leuga" was the Gaulish mile, which Late Latin writers adopted, and it probably traces back to a Proto-Celtic root *lougā that also gave the Middle Breton "leau" and modern Breton "lev." It is a doublet of "legua," the Spanish and Portuguese word for the same measure, so the Romance languages and English both inherited the unit from the same Celtic source. The alliance sense is a different word entirely. Middle English borrowed "liege" or "ligg" from Middle French "ligue," which came from Italian "lega," a pact between governments. Behind that lies the Latin verb "ligare," meaning "to tie," so an alliance was, at root, a binding together. The sporting sense, a body governing competition among clubs, grew out of this partnership meaning rather than the distance one.

Synonyms: association, alliance, union, coalition, federation

Antonyms: disunion, dissociation, separation, division, disbandment