Meaning & use
aline
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Meaning
verbtransitive or intransitivearchaicrare
An old and now unusual spelling of align, meaning to arrange in a line or bring into agreement.
Grammar: Same use as align, but modern writers avoid this spelling.
Patterns
- aline something with something
In old texts you may see armies aline themselves in rows.
The older edition spells the word aline instead of align.
Spell checkers will change aline to align.
Word forms
| third person singular | alines |
|---|---|
| past tense | alined |
| past participle | alined |
| -ing form | alining |
Common combinations
- aline with
- The old text says to aline with the wall.
- aline the ranks
- Officers would aline the ranks.
- alined
- The book spells alined for aligned.
- misspelled aline
- He misspelled align as aline.
Synonyms and how they differ
- align
- Align is the standard modern spelling.
- line up
- Line up is informal and most natural for people.
- arrange
- Arrange is broader and has no sense of a straight line.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: aline or align? aline or a line?
aline vs align
Align is correct today; aline is only seen in older writing.
aline vs a line
A line is two words meaning a row; aline is one word and a spelling variant.
Practice
In current English, which spelling is standard for the verb meaning to arrange things in a straight line?
Choose one answer.
Align is the modern standard spelling. Aline is an archaic variant.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “aline”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.