# alignment

Pronunciation: say "uh-LYN-muhnt" US/UK /əˈlaɪn.mənt/, AUS /əˈlɑen.mənt/

## Noun

1. An arrangement of items so that they sit evenly along a straight line.
   - Simple: The way things are placed so they form a straight line.
   - _The careful alignment of the fence posts created a perfectly straight boundary._
   - _Workers checked the alignment of the paving stones before setting them in place._
2. The process of adjusting a mechanism's parts so they are correctly positioned relative to one another, or the resulting condition.
   - Simple: Setting the parts of a machine correctly so they fit and work together, or the result of doing that.
   - _After the repair, the engine's alignment was nearly perfect._
   - _Technicians spent hours restoring the alignment of the printing press._
3. A coming together of factions or groups into an alliance based on shared interests.
   - Simple: An agreement between groups to work together for a shared goal.
   - _The new alignment between rival unions surprised political observers._
   - _A loose alignment of regional powers opposed the empire's expansion._
4. The precise route or course that a road, railway, footpath, or similar way follows between two points.
   - Simple: The exact path a road, railway, or trail follows from one place to another.
   - _The proposed alignment of the highway would cut through protected forest._
   - _Surveyors staked out the alignment of the footpath along the ridge._
5. The conjunction of two celestial objects, when they appear close together along the same line of sight.
   - Simple: When two objects in the sky appear in a straight line from Earth.
   - _The rare alignment of Jupiter and Saturn drew crowds of skywatchers._
   - _Astronomers photographed the alignment as the two bodies drew close in the evening sky._
6. One of a fixed set of moral positions or philosophies that a character may adopt in a roleplaying game.
   - Simple: In games, one of the set moral types a character can be, like good or evil.
   - _The dungeon master asked each player to declare their character's alignment before the campaign began._
   - _A paladin who breaks his oath may lose his lawful alignment._
7. The degree to which an artificial intelligence's goals and values match human ethical standards.
   - Simple: How well an AI's goals and values match what people think is right.
   - _The lab published new methods for improving the alignment of large language models._
   - _Without careful alignment, an advanced AI might pursue goals that conflict with human welfare._
8. A way of arranging DNA, RNA, or protein sequences so that regions of similarity can be identified.
   - Simple: A way of lining up DNA or protein sequences to find parts that match.
   - _The alignment revealed a conserved region shared across all three species._
   - _Researchers compared the protein alignment to locate the mutation._
9. The ground plan of a road or canal, showing its horizontal layout across the land.
   - Simple: The plan showing where a road or canal runs across the ground.
   - _The engineer's drawing showed the alignment of the new canal across the floodplain._
   - _Planners reviewed the road's alignment on the site plan before construction._

## Origin

From French alignement, formed from align and the suffix -ment.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/alignment (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).