A League Is Also About Three Miles
A league is an association of teams or states. It is also an old unit of distance, roughly an hour's walk.
A league is an association formed for a common purpose. A separate word with the same spelling is a distance: roughly three miles, and traditionally defined as how far a person could walk in an hour. Jules Verne's *Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea* refers to distance travelled, not depth — the ocean is nowhere near that deep.
- An association. *The football league.*
- A unit of distance. *Three leagues away.*
- A level of quality. *Out of my league.*
- In league with — allied, often improperly. *In league with the enemy.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | league | The premier league. |
| Plural | leagues | Minor leagues. |
| Verb | league | Leagued together. |
| Related | ally | A close ally. |
| Related | federation | A federation of states. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Twenty thousand leagues is a distance travelled.Not a depth.
- He is out of her league.Of a different standard.
- In league with the opposition.Secretly allied.
Old units of distance
- League — about three miles, an hour's walk
- Furlong — an eighth of a mile, a furrow's length
- Chain — 22 yards, still the length of a cricket pitch
- Fathom — six feet, for water depth
- Nautical mile — one minute of latitude, about 1.15 statute miles
The association sense is from Italian *lega*, from Latin *ligare*, to bind. The distance is from Late Latin *leuga*, of Gaulish origin.
How deep is twenty thousand leagues?
It is not a depth. Verne's title refers to the distance the Nautilus travelled, since twenty thousand leagues would be far deeper than any ocean.
Are the two leagues related?
No. The association comes from Latin *ligare*, to bind; the distance from a Gaulish word.