Meanings
plural allegiances · alternative obsolete allegiaunce
- countableuncountableLoyalty or commitment to a cause, group, nation or of a subordinate to a superior.
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.
2024 September 7, David Hytner, “Rice and Grealish start new England era with Nations League victory in Ireland”, in The Guardian1 more example
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;...
1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 83Synonyms: adherence, fidelity, loyalty, fealty, devotion, sympathy · Antonyms: treason, disloyalty
Synonyms & antonyms
nounLoyalty or commitment to a cause, group, nation or of a subordinate to a superior.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action
nounthe loyalty that citizens owe to their country (or subjects to their sovereign)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Frenchligeance
- Anglo-Normanalegaunce“loyalty of a liege-servant to one's lord”
- Middle Englishalegiaunce
- Englishallegiance
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.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic اِنْتِمَاء
- اِنْتِمَاء (intimāʔ)loyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Bulgarian вярност, преданост
- вярност (vjarnost)loyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- преданост (predanost)loyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- лоялност (lojalnost)loyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Catalan lleialtat, fidelitat
- lleialtatloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- fidelitatloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Chinese Mandarin 忠誠 /忠诚
- 忠誠 /忠诚 (zhōngchéng)loyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Czech oddanost
- oddanostloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Danish troskap
- troskaployalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Dutch trouw, getrouwheid
- trouwloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- getrouwheidloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- loyaliteitloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- trouwhartigheidloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- aanhangloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Esperanto fideleco
- fidelecoloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Finnish kuuliaisuus, uskollisuus
- kuuliaisuusloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- uskollisuusloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
French fidélité, loyauté
- fidélitéloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- loyautéloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- allégeanceloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
German Treue, Loyalität
- Treueloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- Loyalitätloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- Treuherzigkeitloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- Gefolgschaftloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- Gefolgschaftstreueloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Hebrew נֶאֱמָנוּת
- נֶאֱמָנוּת (neemanút)loyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Irish dílseacht
- dílseachtloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Italian fedeltà, lealtà
- fedeltàloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- lealtàloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Japanese 忠誠
- 忠誠loyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Korean 충성
- 충성 (chungseong)loyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Latin allegiantia, fidēlitās
- allegiantialoyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- fidēlitāsloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- fidēsloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- dēvōtiōloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- obsequiumloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Māori piripono
- piriponoloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Norwegian Bokmål troskap, truskap
- troskaployalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- truskaployalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Persian تعهد, وفاداری
- تعهد (ta'ahhod)loyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- وفاداری (vafâdâri)loyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Polish wierność, posłuszeństwo
- wiernośćloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- posłuszeństwoloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- lojalnośćloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Portuguese fidelidade, lealdade
- fidelidadeloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- lealdadeloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- adesãoloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- filiaçãoloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Romanian fidelitate, loialitate
- fidelitateloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- loialitateloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- credințăloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Russian ве́рность, пре́данность
- ве́рность (vérnostʹ)loyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- пре́данность (prédannostʹ)loyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Spanish fidelidad, lealtad
- fidelidadloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- lealtadloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- pleitesía (disused)loyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Swedish lojalitet, trohet
- lojalitetloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
- trohetloyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Cite this entry
allegiance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/allegiance
“allegiance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/allegiance. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “allegiance,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/allegiance.
Source: allegiance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.