ALLEGIANCE
commitment, allegiance, loyalty, dedication
(noun) the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action; “his long commitment to public service”; “they felt no loyalty to a losing team”
allegiance, fealty
(noun) the loyalty that citizens owe to their country (or subjects to their sovereign)
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
allegiance (countable and uncountable, plural allegiances)
Loyalty to some cause, nation or ruler.
Synonyms
• fidelity, loyalty, adherence
Source: Wiktionary
Al*le"giance, n. Etym: [OE. alegeaunce; pref. a- + OF. lige, liege.
The meaning was influenced by L. ligare to bind, and even by lex,
legis, law. See Liege, Ligeance.]
1. 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.
2. Devotion; loyalty; as, allegiance to science.
Syn.
– 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! Shak.
So spake the Seraph Abdiel, faithful found, . . . Unshaken,
unseduced, unterrified, His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal.
Milton.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition