allegiance

Definition

Loyalty to some cause, nation or ruler.

Etymology

From Middle English alegiaunce, from Anglo-Norman alegaunce (“loyalty of a liege-servant to one's lord”), variant of Old French ligeance, from lige (“vassal, liegeman”). More at liege.

Example Sentences

• "With what a feeling of joyful security did her heart go back to its old allegiance! Till now she had scarcely been aware of its strength, for she had known it but by its disappointment—now she fully admitted that early and passionate emotion with which Robert Evelyn had inspired her was indeed her destiny;..."
• "It was always going to be a hot occasion for Declan Rice and Jack Grealish, the one-time Ireland internationals who subsequently switched their allegiances."