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