ALLEGIANCE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Allegiance

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/əlˈidʒəns/ Listen

noun

Allegiance n.

The tie or obligation, implied or expressed, which a subject owes to his sovereign or government; the duty of fidelity to one's king, government, or state.

Devotion; loyalty; as, allegiance to science.

Synonyms: Loyalty; fealty. Allegiance, Loyalty. These words agree in expressing the general idea of fidelity and attachment to the "powers that be." Allegiance is an obligation to a ruling power. Loyalty is a feeling or sentiment towards such power. Allegiance may exist under any form of government, and, in a republic, we generally speak of allegiance to the government, to the state, etc. In well conducted monarchies, loyalty is a warm-hearted feeling of fidelity and obedience to the sovereign. It is personal in its nature; and hence we speak of the loyalty of a wife to her husband, not of her allegiance. In cases where we personify, loyalty is more commonly the word used; as, loyalty to the constitution; loyalty to the cause of virtue; loyalty to truth and religion, etc. "Hear me, recreant, on thine allegiance hear me!" "So spake the Seraph Abdiel, faithful found,... Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified, His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal."

See images of 'Allegiance'

Etymology of 'Allegiance'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Allegiance" Quotes from Famous Books

... coinage; and on this, too, they agreed. Notable was the denunciation by the chancellor of those who differed from him; he seemed to feel that, as captain of the political forces of the empire, he was entitled to the allegiance of all honest members of parliament, and on all questions. The discussion ran through various interesting phases, when, noticing that the members of the Prussian ministry were gathering in the next room, I rose to go; whereupon the prince, who seemed greatly ...

— Volume I • Andrew Dickson White

... of the Oriental religions would doubtless save us, says, "There is one against which we are almost unwilling to say a word. I mean the exaggeration of those who, in a deep devotion to the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, count themselves bound, by their allegiance to Him, to take up a hostile attitude to everything not distinctly and avowedly Christian, as though any other position were a treachery to his cause, and a surrender of his exclusive right to the authorship of all the good which is in the world. In this temper we may dwell only ...

— Oriental Religions and Christianity • Frank F. Ellinwood

... sentiment that prides itself on being such. The "Northern" man may be "Eastern" or "Western." He may be "Knickerbocker," "Pennamite," "Buckeye," or "Hoosier;" but above all things, and first of all things in his allegiance and his citizenship, he is an American. The "Southern" man is proud of the Nation chiefly because it contains his section and State; the "Northern" man is proud of his section and State chiefly because it is a part ...

— Bricks Without Straw • Albion W. Tourgee

... in September, if they did not return to their allegiance, and cease murdering our soldiers, I would strike at this ...

— Lincoln's Yarns and Stories • Alexander K. McClure

... go, I suppose!" answered Plunger despondently. "We've given ourselves away, you see. We're one of them—one of the wretched Beetles. We've taken the vow of allegiance. They've got us in ...

— The Hero of Garside School • J. Harwood Panting

More quotes...