an Allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed by a subject or a citizen to his/her state or sovereign. Origin of the word Mid. English ligeaunce; med. Latin ligeantia; the al- was probably added through confusion with another legal term, allegeance, an allegation; the French allegeance comes from the English; the word is formed from "liege," of which the derivation is given under that heading; the connection with Latin ligare, to bind, is erroneous. Usage The term allegiance is often used by English legal commentators in a larger sense, divided by them into natural and local, the latter applying to the deference which even a foreigner must pay to the institutions of the country in which he happens to live; but it is in its proper sense, in which it indicates national character and the subjection due to that character, that the word is important

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z # TAGS