allegiance - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

al·le·giance

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.

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

]

—Synonyms See loyalty.

—Antonyms 1. treason. 2. treachery.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
allegiance

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

al·le·giance Audio Help (ə-lē'jəns) Pronunciation Key
n.

Loyalty or the obligation of loyalty, as to a nation, sovereign, or cause. See Synonyms at fidelity.
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.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

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)

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
allegiance [əˈliːdʒəns] noun

loyalty to a person, group, idea etc
Example: I have no allegiance to any political party.

Arabic:	وَلاء، إخْلاص
Chinese (Simplified):	忠诚
Chinese (Traditional):	忠誠
Czech:	věrnost
Danish:	troskab; loyalitet; lydighed
Dutch:	loyaliteit
Estonian:	truudus
Finnish:	uskollisuus
French:	fidélité
German:	die Treue,die Anhänglichkeit
Greek:	πίστη, αφοσίωση
Hungarian:	állampolgári hűség
Icelandic:	hollusta
Indonesian:	kesetiaan
Italian:	fedeltà, lealtà

Japanese:	忠誠
Korean:	충성; (일에 대한) 전념
Latvian:	lojalitāte; uzticība
Lithuanian:	ištikimybė
Norwegian:	troskap, lydighet
Polish:	wierność
Portuguese (Brazil):	lealdade
Portuguese (Portugal):	lealdade
Romanian:	loialitate
Russian:	преданность
Slovak:	vernosť, lojálnosť
Slovenian:	pripadnost
Spanish:	lealtad
Swedish:	lojalitet, trohet
Turkish:	bağlılık

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

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