align, v.
(əˈlaɪn)
Also 7 aline
[ad. mod.Fr. aligne-r, f. à to + ligner, ad. L. līneā-re to line, f. līnea a line; prob. due to phrase à ligne, ‘into line.’ As line is the Eng. spelling of Fr. ligne and ligner, there is no good reason for retaining the unetymological g in the derivative: see aliner.]
1. To range, place, or lay in a line; to bring into line.
| 1693 Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. Dict., To Aline, is to range, level, or lay even in, and to a strait and direct Line. Said of Walls, Rows of Trees, and sides of Banks, Allies, or Beds, which is performed with Lines fastened to Spikes fixed in the Ground or Wall. 1863 R. Burton Abeokuta II. 135 Trees, so aligned that they presented a sharp edge to the gales. 1879 Rutley Study Rocks vii. 53 The cobweb is aligned on one of the faces of the crystal. 1881 Daily News 15 Sept. 3/4 The route will be in parts aligned and widened. |
2. intr. (for refl.) To fall into line.
| 1877 Kinglake Crimea (ed. 6) IV. xiii. 415 The array in which Dundas consented to align with the French. |
3. To bring two or more points into a straight line; spec. said of bringing the ‘sights’ of a rifle into line with the mark, so as to aim straight.
| 1860 Hunt. Grounds O. World Ser. i. xxvi. (ed. 2) 506 ‘Aiming drill’..teaching him how to ‘align’ his rifle, or ‘aim’ correctly at a mark. 1861 J. MacGregor in Jrnl. Soc. Arts IX. 477/2 A slight stoop of the head enables the eye to align the sights and the bull's-eye. |
b. To get or take in a line with something else, as e.g. to hit with the same shot.
| 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxxvii. (1856) 338 Regretting that my one ball could not align his mate. |
4. Politics. To bring into line with a particular tradition, policy, group, or power. Also refl.
| 1934 Webster s.v., To align nations against warfare. 1942 Ann. Reg. 1941 279 President Vargas..now showed himself..anxious to align his country with the democracies. 1955 Treatm. Brit. P.O.W.'s in Korea (H.M.S.O.) 2 If a prisoner refused to be educated..he was voluntarily aligning himself with the forces of reactionary capitalism. |