League Meaning
/liːɡ/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA group or association of cooperating members.
nounAn organization of sports teams which play against one another for a championship.
Sentence Examples
The manager has put him back in the major league.
The League of Nations did not make for peace.
Castleford have led the league for most of the season.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
Our basketball team joined a local ____ to compete against other schools.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The local football team is currently at the top of their ____ after winning almost every game this season.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English liege, ligg, lige (“a pact between governments, an agreement, alliance”), from Middle French ligue, from Italian lega, from the verb legare, from Latin ligō (“to tie”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"And let there be / 'Twixt us and them no league, nor amity."
— 1668, John Denham, The Passion of Dido for Aeneas:
"Out of my sight, thou Serpent, that name best Befits thee with him leagu'd."
— 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
"I believe that all the Bohemians and the great folks in Paris are so leagued together, that they are afraid of one another, and the people receive all the buffets of their disagreeings."
— 1845, Bentley's Miscellany, volume 18, page 7:
"Thenne kynge Mark and sir Dynadan rode forth a four leges englysshe tyl that they came to a brydge where houed a knyght on horsbak armed and redy to Iuste.
"Then King Mark and Sir Dinadan rode forth a four leagues English, till that they came to a bridge where hoved a knight on horseback, armed and ready to joust.""
— 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book X, Chapter 10:
"To this time the Dutch had kept two garrisons in the North of Formosa, one of which was at Fort Kelang, taken from the Spaniards ; the other was at a place called Tamsui, about ten leagues to the westward of Kelang."
— 1813, James Burney, A Chronological History of the Discoveries in the South Sea or Pacific Ocean, volume 3, London: Luke Hansard and Sons, page 257:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Our basketball team joined a local ____ to compete against other schools.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The local football team is currently at the top of their ____ after winning almost every game this season.