allegiance

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /əˈliːdʒəns/ UK /əˈliːdʒ(ə)ns/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
loyalty or commitment to a person, cause, or nation

The soldiers swore allegiance to the new sovereign.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · loyalty or commitment to a... loyalty fidelity faithfulness devotion fealty obedience

Opposites

disloyalty treachery treason betrayal

Word family

Related forms liege

Etymology

From Middle English allegeaunce, from Anglo-Norman ligeance, from Old French lige ('liege'), of Germanic origin; the spelling was influenced by Latin ligāre ('to bind').

ligeance Old French lige Old French

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

# allegiance

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** əˈliːdʒəns
**IPA (UK):** əˈliːdʒ(ə)ns

## Meanings
1. loyalty or commitment to a person, cause, or nation

## Examples
- The soldiers swore allegiance to the new sovereign.

## Synonyms
- loyalty
- fidelity
- faithfulness
- devotion
- fealty
- obedience

## Antonyms
- disloyalty
- treachery
- treason
- betrayal

## Related Forms
- liege

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ligeance
- Root: lige

## Etymology
From Middle English allegeaunce, from Anglo-Norman ligeance, from Old French lige ('liege'), of Germanic origin; the spelling was influenced by Latin ligāre ('to bind').

## AI Etymology
Allegiance is from Middle English allegeaunce, from Anglo-Norman ligeance, from Old French lige ('liege'), of Germanic origin; the spelling was influenced by Latin ligāre ('to bind'). Important recorded forms include ligeance (Old French) and lige (Old French). The current sense covers loyalty or commitment to a person, cause, or nation. The wider family includes related words such as liege.

## Topics
- People & Society

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allegiance

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