allegiance

[ uh-lee-juhns ]

/ əˈli dʒəns /

noun

the loyalty of a citizen to his or her government or of a subject to his or her sovereign.

loyalty or devotion to some person, group, cause, or the like.

Words nearby allegiance

allegedly, allegheny, allegheny barberry, allegheny mountains, allegheny spurge, allegiance, allegiant, allegorical, allegorist, allegoristic, allegorize

Origin of allegiance

1350–1400; Middle English aliegiaunce, equivalent to a- probably a-⁵ + liege liege + -aunce -ance; compare Middle French ligeance

SYNONYMS FOR allegiance

See loyalty.

ANTONYMS FOR allegiance

1 treason.

2 treachery.

OTHER WORDS FROM allegiance

non·al·le·giance, nouno·ver·al·le·giance, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for allegiances

And it was impossible to know where their allegiances truly lay.
One Eye on Our Allies: The Overdue Talk About Afghan Insider Attacks|Brandon Caro|October 9, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Even before the podiums are occupied, we have pledged our allegiances.
The Presidential Debate as Seen by a Conservative Husband and a Liberal Wife|Susannah Breslin|October 4, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Their allegiances are fleeting and their numbers are growing.
Independents Are Growing in Number and Drifting Away From Obama|Linda Killian|December 9, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Finally, Faris gets fed up and dumps Dave, proving that her allegiances lie with Eric.
The Best 'Entourage' Cameos|Marlow Stern|July 24, 2011|DAILY BEAST

My allegiances shifted precisely on the first Monday after Labor Day in 1971, when I walked into St. John's for the first time.
Football, Hold the Stuffing|Charles P. Pierce|November 26, 2008|DAILY BEAST
Mackenzie seems to be in two minds, pulled this way and that in response to two guiding notions and allegiances.
Prefaces to Four Seventeenth-Century Romances|Roger Boyle
The loyalties and allegiances to-day are at best provisional loyalties and allegiances.
The Outline of History: Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind|Herbert George Wells
Two allegiances, two promises … and no one could tell which she would choose.
The Education of Eric Lane|Stephen McKenna
They are based on allegiances and commitments contradicted by the pragmatics of today's world.
The Civilization of Illiteracy|Mihai Nadin
It is a mass of dumb instincts and allegiances, the love of a certain quality of life, to be maintained manfully.
Soliloquies in England|George Santayana

British Dictionary definitions for allegiances

allegiance

/ (əˈliːdʒəns) /

noun

loyalty, as of a subject to his sovereign or of a citizen to his country

(in feudal society) the obligations of a vassal to his liege lordSee also fealty, homage (def. 2)

Word Origin for allegiance

C14: from Old French ligeance, from lige liege

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

allegiance

noun

Content related to allegiance

Words related to allegiance

Words nearby allegiance

Origin of allegiance

SYNONYMS FOR allegiance

ANTONYMS FOR allegiance

OTHER WORDS FROM allegiance

Examples from the Web for allegiances

British Dictionary definitions for allegiances

noun

Word Origin for allegiance