league

B1 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /liːɡ/ See IPA manual

Freq #2930

Meanings

1

noun
A group of sports teams that compete against one another.

His team plays in the top football league.
2

noun
A group or association of people or countries working together.

Several nations formed a league to promote peace.
3

noun
A level or class of people or things of similar quality.

Forget about dating him; he's out of your league.
4

verb
To join together for a common purpose.

The smaller states leagued together against the empire.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

4 verb · to join together for a... unite ally

Opposites

non-league

Word family

Forms leagues

Derived forms a-leagueantileaguebig-leaguebush-leaguecounterleagueenleagueinleagueinterleagueintraleagueleaguerleaguewideleaguist

Related forms alliance ally

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

hockey league
an organized association of hockey teams that compete against one another

Noun + noun

Simplified etymology

League, in the sense of an alliance, entered English in the late Middle Ages and ultimately derives from Latin ligare “bind.” Its original idea was therefore that of people or groups being bound together.

Etymology

From Middle English lege (“league”), from Late Latin leuca, leuga (“the Gaulish mile”), from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *lougā (compare Middle Breton leau, lew, Breton lev / leo (“league”)). Doublet of legua.

lege Middle English leuca la-lat *lougā Proto-Celtic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# league

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /liːɡ/
**Frequency rank:** 2930

## Meanings
1. A group of sports teams that compete against one another.
2. A group or association of people or countries working together.
3. A level or class of people or things of similar quality.
4. To join together for a common purpose.

## Examples
- His team plays in the top football league.
- Several nations formed a league to promote peace.
- Forget about dating him; he's out of your league.
- The smaller states leagued together against the empire.

## Antonyms
- non-league

## Derived Forms
- a-league
- antileague
- big-league
- bush-league
- counterleague
- enleague
- inleague
- interleague
- intraleague
- leaguer
- leaguewide
- leaguist

## Related Forms
- alliance
- ally

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: lege
- Root: leuca
- Root: *lougā

## Etymology
From Middle English lege (“league”), from Late Latin leuca, leuga (“the Gaulish mile”), from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *lougā (compare Middle Breton leau, lew, Breton lev / leo (“league”)). Doublet of legua.

## AI Etymology
League comes from Middle English lege (“league”), from Late Latin leuca, leuga (“the Gaulish mile”), from Gaulish, from Proto-Celtic *lougā (compare Middle Breton leau, lew, Breton lev / leo (“league”)). Doublet of legua.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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