al·le·giance
Audio Help [uh-lee-juh
ns] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [uh-lee-juh
ns] Pronunciation Key –noun
| 1. | the loyalty of a citizen to his or her government or of a subject to his or her sovereign. |
| 2. | loyalty or devotion to some person, group, cause, or the like. |
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
allegiance
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| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| al·le·giance
Audio Help (ə-lē'jəns) Pronunciation Key
n.
[Middle English alligeaunce, alteration of ligeaunce, from Old French ligeance, from lige, liege; see liege.] al·le'giant adj. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
allegiance
1399, from Anglo-Fr. legaunce "loyalty of a liege-man to his lord," from O.Fr. legeance, from liege (see liege); erroneously associated with L. ligare "to bind;" corrupted in spelling by confusion with the now-obsolete legal term allegeance "alleviation." General fig. sense of "recognition of claims to respect or duty" is attested from 1732.
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| allegiance | |
noun | |
| 1. | the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action; "his long commitment to public service"; "they felt no loyalty to a losing team" [syn: commitment] |
| 2. | the loyalty that citizens owe to their country (or subjects to their sovereign) |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
allegiance [əˈliːdʒəns] noun
loyalty to a person, group, idea etc
Example: I have no allegiance to any political party.
Example: I have no allegiance to any political party.
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| Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd. |
Allegiance
Al*le"giance\, n. [OE. alegeaunce; pref. a- + OF. lige, liege. The meaning was influenced by L. ligare to bind, and even by lex, legis, law. See Liege, Ligeance.]1. The tie or obligation, implied or expressed, which a subject owes to his sovereign or government; the duty of fidelity to one's king, government, or state. 2. Devotion; loyalty; as, allegiance to science. Syn: Loyalty; fealty. Usage: Allegiance, Loyalty. These words agree in expressing the general idea of fidelity and attachment to the "powers that be." Allegiance is an obligation to a ruling power. Loyalty is a feeling or sentiment towards such power. Allegiance may exist under any form of government, and, in a republic, we generally speak of allegiance to the government, to the state, etc. In well conducted monarchies, loyalty is a warm-hearted feeling of fidelity and obedience to the sovereign. It is personal in its nature; and hence we speak of the loyalty of a wife to her husband, not of her allegiance. In cases where we personify, loyalty is more commonly the word used; as, loyalty to the constitution; loyalty to the cause of virtue; loyalty to truth and religion, etc. Hear me, recreant, on thine allegiance hear me! --Shak. So spake the Seraph Abdiel, faithful found, . . . Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified, His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal. --Milton.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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