- alliance
- alliance, league, coalition, fusion, confederacy, confederation, federation agree in the idea of combination, chiefly political, for a common object.Alliance applies particularly to a joining of interests on the part of families (by marriage) or of states (by compact or treaty); it is also less formally used of a connection for mutual benefit between other bodies, organized or not{
a defensive alliance
}{an alliance between producers and consumers
}League though often used without distinction from alliance typically suggests a more formal compact or more definite object{the Solemn League and Covenant
}and may frequently (unlike alliance) be taken in a bad sense{to be in league with the powers of darkness
}Coalition refers to a temporary alliance of otherwise opposing interests, parties, or factions{Mr. Fox, and his famous coalition with Lord North— Gibbon
}{a coalition government
}Fusion is a coalition of political parties for the purpose of defeating another party in an election{a fusion of Republicans and independent Democrats in New York City opposed the Tammany Democratic ticket
}Confederacy and confederation apply specifically to a union by compact or treaty of independent states under a government to which powers are delegated for dealing primarily with common external relations{the Southern Confederacy
}{the Articles of Confederation
}{the German Confederation
}Federation in its broad sense includes any union under the terms of a league or covenant{the Federation of Labor
}but specifically it designates a sovereign state or city formed by the union of other states or cities with a central general government and several local governments{the United States of America constitutes a federation
}{federation was the name given to the scheme for blending the Five Towns into one town— Bennett
}{the Federation of Malaysia
}
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.