Always when studying various terms, the most interesting are those that have many interpretations. League is just such a word. It is used in many areas of life and, accordingly, differs in each of them with its nuances. Therefore, let's study what a league is in detail.
What the dictionary says
To provide the greatest coverage of the interpretation of the word being studied, it is better to resort to the help of dictionaries, which we will do. About the meaning of the word "league" it says the following:
Association of a certain circle of persons, organizations or states. Example: “At the end of the 1st World War, as a result of the development of the Versailles-Washington system of international relations, an organization such as the League of Nations was formed.”
In sports, a league is a group of teams that are approximately equal in skill and compete against each other. Example: "Yesterday's game day was a record day in the entire five-year history of the football league, it attracted the largest audience in the specified period."
The studied word has other meanings,which can be found in dictionaries, we will consider them below.
Other values
About what a league is in other meanings, the dictionaries say the following:
- Name of the US and UK unit of length, which is three miles. Example: "The robbers landed the prisoner on the island when the boat sailed from the ship at a distance of one league."
- In musical notation, the term we are studying denotes a sign that looks like an arc. It is located above the notes and means that they need to be played legato, that is, together. Example: “After careless handling, the music sheets came into a terrible state, so the league sign in some places was impossible to make out.”
Synonyms
It seems that familiarity with terms that are close to it in meaning will help to better assimilate the meaning of the word "league". According to the information given in the relevant dictionaries, there are plenty of them. Among them are the following:
- union;
- group;
- union;
- set;
- community;
- association;
- brotherhood;
- corporation;
- community;
- gang;
- artel;
- coalition;
- band;
- caste;
- click;
- bunch;
- circle;
- camp;
- party;
- pleiade;
- sect.
However, a person in whom a linguistic vein beats, succumbing to temptation, can continue to study the question of what a league is, and find in dictionaries many more synonyms for the studiedword.
Other similar words
The word "league" is:
- advice;
- gathering;
- federation;
- workshop;
- partnership;
- circle;
- confederation;
- block;
- alliance;
- commonwe alth;
- community;
- grouping;
- guild;
- board;
- commune;
- clan;
- squad;
- army;
- conglomerate;
- team.
There are others.
Etymology and phraseological units
In conclusion of the study of the question of what a league is, let us turn to its origin and give some of the phraseological units denoting the names of several well-known leagues that include the word under study.
According to etymologists, this word was borrowed from French in the 18th century. There it looks like ligue and literally means "union". In French, it appeared, formed from the Italian noun liga. The latter, in turn, comes from the Latin verb ligare, which translates as "to unite, bind."
Among the stable phrases with the term under study, we can distinguish:
- Ivy League;
- Catholic League;
- Arab League;
- League of Nations;
- UEFA Champions League;
- Public Education League.
Another well-known phrase with the object we are considering is the title of the story by A. Conan Doyle The Leaguered-headed”, which also has another version of the name - “Red-headed Union”. In this work, Sherlock Holmes manages to prevent a bank robbery by notorious criminal John Clay and his accomplice. It is interesting that the author himself put this story in second place out of the 12 most beloved, dedicated to the famous hero-detective.
