allegiance

noun al·le·giance \ ə-ˈlē-jən(t)s \

|Updated on: 19 Jul 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: allegiance in a Sentence

Definition of allegiance

1 a : the obligation of a feudal vassal to his liege lord

b (1) : the fidelity owed by a subject or citizen to a sovereign or government

I pledge allegiance to my country.

(2) : the obligation of an alien to the government under which the alien resides

2 : devotion or loyalty to a person, group, or cause

allegiance to a political party

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allegiant

play \-jənt\ adjective

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Examples of allegiance in a Sentence

He owes allegiance to them for all the help they have given him.
Both candidates are working hard to convince voters to switch allegiances.

Recent Examples of allegiance from the Web

As a contest not just of teams but of nations, the World Cup gives the unaffiliated plenty to mull over in forging their 90-minute allegiances.

— kanishk tharoor, The Atlantic, "The Elusive Underdog Magic of the World Cup," 14 July 2018
Home plate at Dunkin’ Donuts Park was briefly transformed into a federal courtroom on Wednesday as 50 people from 22 nations took the oath of allegiance and became United States citizens.

— david owens, courant.com, "50 Immigrants From 22 Nations Become U.S. Citizens In A Ceremony Before The Fourth Of July Yard Goats Game," 4 July 2018
Sjöwall and Wahlöö’s books hold very little allegiance to the typical noir that is sparsely written and pessimistic, showing one man against the world.

— alice bolin, Longreads, "The Daughter as Detective," 26 June 2018
There’s an ongoing debate as to whether U.S. fans, disappointed over the national team’s failure, should switch allegiance to Mexico.

— bruce jenkins, SFChronicle.com, "Brazil’s win sweet redemption for Neymar, who finally scores," 22 June 2018
The 92-year-old switched allegiance to head the Pakatan Harapan (PH), an alliance of opposition parties.

— The Economist, "Control of Malaysia’s parliament changes for the first time," 10 May 2018
After Cruz faded, the Mercers switched their allegiance to Trump and pitched their services to Trump's digital director, Brad Parscale.

— author: craig timberg, karla adam, michael kranish, Anchorage Daily News, "Bannon oversaw Cambridge Analytica’s collection of Facebook data, according to former employee," 21 Mar. 2018
In addition to ordering the release of the political prisoners, the court also reinstated 12 lawmakers who had been ousted for switching allegiance to the opposition.

— Bloomberg.com, "Opposition Leader, Judges Arrested in Maldives Turmoil," 5 Feb. 2018
In addition to ordering the release of the political prisoners, the court also reinstated 12 lawmakers who had been ousted for switching allegiance to the opposition.

— mohamed sharuhaan, The Seattle Times, "Maldives attorney general says court can’t oust president," 4 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'allegiance.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of allegiance

Middle English aligeaunce, from Anglo-French allegeance, alteration of ligeance, from lige liege

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First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

allegiance Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of allegiance

fidelity, allegiance, fealty, loyalty, devotion, piety mean faithfulness to something to which one is bound by pledge or duty. fidelity implies strict and continuing faithfulness to an obligation, trust, or duty.