\Al`li*ga"tion\, n. [L. alligatio.]
1. The act of tying together or attaching by some bond, or
   the state of being attached. [R.]
2. (Arith.) 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.