ALLIGATION

Etymology 1

Noun

alligation (countable and uncountable, plural alligations)

(obsolete) The act of tying together or attaching by some bond.

(obsolete) The state of being attached.

(obsolete) An old practical method of solving arithmetic problems related to mixtures of ingredients.

Etymology 2

Errant spelling of allegation.

Noun

alligation

Misspelling of allegation.

Source: Wiktionary

Al`li*ga"tion, n. Etym: [L. alligatio.]

1. The act of tying together or attaching by some bond, or the state of being attached. [R.]

2. (Arith.)

Definition: A rule relating to the solution of questions concerning the compounding or mixing of different ingredients, or ingredients of different qualities or values.

Note: The rule is named from the method of connecting together the terms by certain ligature-like signs. Alligation is of two kinds, medial and alternate; medial teaching the method of finding the price or quality of a mixture of several simple ingredients whose prices and qualities are known; alternate, teaching the amount of each of several simple ingredients whose prices or qualities are known, which will be required to make a mixture of given price or quality.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition