ALLEGIANCE

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action

Example:

they felt no loyalty to a losing team

Synonyms:

allegiance; commitment; dedication; loyalty

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("allegiance" is a kind of...):

cooperation (joint operation or action)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "allegiance"):

communalism (loyalty and commitment to the interests of your own minority or ethnic group rather than to society as a whole)

consecration (a solemn commitment of your life or your time to some cherished purpose (to a service or a goal))

devotion (commitment to some purpose)

enlistment (the act of enlisting (as in a military service))

faith (loyalty or allegiance to a cause or a person)

Derivation:

allegiant (steadfast in devotion (especially to your lawful monarch or government))

Sense 2

Meaning:

The loyalty that citizens owe to their country (or subjects to their sovereign)

Synonyms:

allegiance; fealty

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("allegiance" is a kind of...):

loyalty; trueness (the quality of being loyal)

Derivation:

allegiant (steadfast in devotion (especially to your lawful monarch or government))

Credits

Context examples:

Once again he lived in the lair with Kiche, crept trembling to the knees of Grey Beaver to tender his allegiance, ran for his life before Lip-lip and all the howling bedlam of the puppy-pack.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

There was something in the fibre of White Fang's being that made his lordship a thing to be desired, else he would not have come back from the Wild when he did to tender his allegiance.