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Rival vs Ally - What's the difference?

rival | ally |

In obsolete terms the difference between rival and ally

is that rival is one having a common right or privilege with another; a partner while ally is a relative; a kinsman.

In transitive terms the difference between rival and ally

is that rival is to oppose or compete with while ally is to connect or form a relation between by similitude, resemblance, friendship, or love.

As an adjective rival

is having the same pretensions or claims; standing in competition for superiority.

As a proper noun Ally is

a diminutive of the female given names Alison, Alice and Alexandra.

rival

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A competitor (person, team, company, etc.) with the same goal as another, or striving to attain the same thing. Defeating a rival may be a primary or necessary goal of a competitor.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)
    • , volume=189, issue=2, page=27, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= The tao of tech , passage=The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you
  • Someone or something with similar claims of quality or distinction as another.
  • (obsolete) One having a common right or privilege with another; a partner.
  • * (William Shakespeare)
    • If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus, / The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste.

    Derived terms

    * rivalry * archrival

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Having the same pretensions or claims; standing in competition for superiority.
    • rival lovers; rival claims or pretensions
  • * Macaulay
    • The strenuous conflicts and alternate victories of two rival confederacies of statesmen.

    Verb

  • To oppose or compete with.
    • to rival somebody in love
  • To be equal to or to surpass another.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
    • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=1 citation , passage=The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, […].}}
  • To strive to equal or excel; to emulate.
  • * Dryden
    • to rival thunder in its rapid course

    Anagrams

    * ----

    ally

    English

    (Webster 1913)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) alien, (etyl) alier (Modern French allier), from (etyl) . Compare alligate, allay, alloy and ligament.

    Verb

    (en-verb)
  • To unite, or form a connection between, as between families by marriage, or between princes and states by treaty, league, or confederacy
  • * (rfdate) :
    • O chief! in blood, and now in arms allied .
  • To connect or form a relation between by similitude, resemblance, friendship, or love.
  • * (rfdate) :
    • These three did love each other dearly well, And with so firm affection were allied .
  • * (rfdate) :
    • The virtue nearest to our vice allied .
    Usage notes
    * Generally used in the passive form or reflexively. * Often followed by to'' or ''with .
    Synonyms
    * make common cause

    Noun

    (allies)
  • One united to another by treaty or league; — usually applied to sovereigns or states; a confederate.
  • * (rfdate) :
    • the English soldiers and their French allies
  • Anything associated with another as a helper; an auxiliary.
  • * (rfdate) Buckle:
    • Science, instead of being the enemy of religion, becomes its ally.
  • Anything akin to something else by structure, etc.
  • (taxonomy) A closely related species, usually within the same family.
    • Gruiformes — cranes and allies
  • (obsolete) A relative; a kinsman.
    • (Shakespeare)
    Related terms
    * alliance

    Etymology 2

    Diminutive of alabaster.

    Noun

    (allies)
  • (a glass marble or taw)

    • References

    *

    Anagrams

    * English heteronyms