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allegiance

 - 3 dictionary results

al⋅le⋅giance

[uh-lee-juhns]
–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.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME aliegiaunce, equiv. to a- prob. a- 5 + liege liege + -aunce -ance; cf. MF ligeance


See loyalty.


1. treason. 2. treachery.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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al·le·giance   (ə-lē'jəns)   
n.  
  1. Loyalty or the obligation of loyalty, as to a nation, sovereign, or cause. See Synonyms at fidelity.

  2. The obligations of a vassal to a lord.


[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 © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

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
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