Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Owing feudal allegiance and service: Describes a person, typically a vassal, who is bound to give loyalty and service to a feudal lord.
   • Entitled to feudal allegiance and service: Describes a lord who has the right to receive loyalty and service from vassals.

2. Noun:

   • A feudal lord entitled to allegiance and service: A sovereign lord or superior to whom fidelity and service are due.
   • A person who owes allegiance and service to a feudal lord: A vassal or subject bound to a lord.
   • (Proper noun) A city in Belgium: The city of Liège in eastern Belgium.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • The knights were liege men to the king, sworn to defend his realm.
  • The baron demanded the service due from his liege subjects.

• Noun (referring to a lord):

  • The vassals gathered to pledge their fealty to their liege.
  • He served as a faithful counselor to his liege.

• Noun (referring to a vassal):

  • Every liege in the kingdom was summoned to arms. (This usage is less common today.)

Advanced Usage

• "Liege lord": The specific feudal superior to whom one owes ultimate allegiance.
  • The duke was the liege lord of all the lesser nobles in the region.
• "Liege homage": The formal ceremony or act of becoming a vassal, swearing loyalty to a lord.
  • The knight performed liege homage and was granted lands in return.

Variants and Related Words

• Liegedom (n, archaic): The state of being a liege or the territory of a liege lord.
• Liège (n): The standard spelling for the Belgian city.

Synonyms

• Lord / Sovereign: For a liege as a superior.
• Vassal / Subject: For a liege as a subordinate.
• Feudal: Related to the system in which liege relationships exist.

Related Phrases

• To do liege service: To perform the military or other duties owed by a vassal.
  • The tenant was obligated to do liege service for forty days each year.
• To swear liege to: To take an oath of allegiance to a lord.
  • The barons were forced to swear liege to the new king.

Adjective

1. owing or owed feudal allegiance and service
   • one's liege lord
   • a liege subject

Noun

1. city in eastern Belgium; largest French-speaking city in Belgium
2. a feudal lord entitled to allegiance and service
3. a person holding a fief; a person who owes allegiance and service to a feudal lord