This is the 6060th most frequent Polish word.
ala
The Polish word "Ala" is a diminutive form of the female given name Alicja, similar to "Alice" in English.
Here, 'Ala' is used as a proper noun, referring to a person's name, commonly used in Poland.
Ada wyglądała jak Ala z dawnych lat.
Ada looked like Ala from the old days.
In this sentence, 'ala' is used informally to mean 'like' or 'akin to,' describing resemblance.
Rysunek przedstawiał kota ala lew.
The drawing depicted a cat akin to a lion.
In this case, 'Ala' is again used as a common personal name in Polish.