English
league
League comes from Middle French ligue, from Italian lega, from the verb legare, from Latin ligō ‘to tie’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEligō‘to tie’
- Italianc. 1300–presentlegare‘to tie, bind’
- Italian, derivedc. 1300–presentlega‘league’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600ligue
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500liege‘alliance, agreement’
- Englishearliest quotation 1667league
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEligō‘to tie’
- Italianc. 1300–presentlegare‘to tie, bind’
- Italian, derivedc. 1300–presentlega‘league’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600ligue
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500liege‘alliance, agreement’
- Englishearliest quotation 1667league
Earliest quotation: 1667, John Milton, Book X: “Out of my sight, thou Serpent, that name best…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ- ‘to bind’
through Latin ligō ‘to tie’
religious, religion, ally, liable, alloy, liaison, ligament, lien, ligand, ligature, religiosity, obligate, liaise, ligation, legato, 14 more
through Middle English liege
Another origin of league
- Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*lougāreconstructed
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEleuca‘the Gaulish mile’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lege
- Englishtodayleague
Today it means
noun A group or association of cooperating members.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin ligō / league