Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To arrange in a line or so as to be parallel.
  • intransitive verb To adjust (parts of a mechanism, for example) to produce a proper relationship or orientation.
  • intransitive verb To ally (oneself, for example) with one side of an argument or cause.
  • intransitive verb To adhere to a prescribed course of action.
  • intransitive verb To move or be adjusted into proper relationship or orientation.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • See aline, alinement.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To form in line; to fall into line.
  • transitive verb To adjust or form to a line; to range or form in line; to bring into line; to aline.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb intransitive To form in line; to fall into line.
  • verb transitive To adjust or form to a line; to range or form in line; to bring into line.
  • verb intransitive To adhere oneself with a group or a way of thinking.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb bring (components or parts) into proper or desirable coordination correlation
  • verb place in a line or arrange so as to be parallel or straight
  • verb be or come into adjustment with
  • verb align oneself with a group or a way of thinking

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French aligner, from Old French : a-, to (from Latin ad-; see ad–) + ligne, line (from Latin līnea; see line).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English alynen, alinen ("copulate"), Middle French aligner, from Old French alignier.

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