Definition

1. Noun:
   • Loyalty or commitment to a person, group, cause, or institution: "Allegiance" refers to a strong feeling of support, faithfulness, or duty owed to a leader, country, idea, or organization.
   • The formal obligation of a citizen to their sovereign or government: In a legal or civic context, it denotes the duty of fidelity and obedience that a subject or citizen owes to their ruler or state.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The soldiers swore allegiance to their new commander.
  • Her primary allegiance is to her family.
  • Citizens pledge allegiance to the flag as a symbol of their country.

Advanced Usage

• "To pledge/swear allegiance to": To make a formal, often public, promise of loyalty.
  • The new citizens pledged allegiance to the United States.
• "To owe allegiance to": To have a duty of loyalty towards.
  • As a diplomat, he owed allegiance to his home country.
• "To shift/transfer allegiance": To change one's loyalty from one entity to another.
  • Many voters shifted their allegiance to the new political party.

Variants and Related Words

• Allegiant (adj): Loyal and faithful.
  • The king's most allegiant supporters.
• Disloyalty (n): The opposite of allegiance; lack of loyalty.
  • An act of disloyalty.

Synonyms

• Loyalty: Steadfastness in allegiance.
• Fidelity: Faithfulness to a person, cause, or belief.
• Fealty: A historical term for a vassal's sworn loyalty to a lord.
• Devotion: Profound dedication and loyalty.

Related Phrases

• Oath of allegiance: A formal sworn statement of loyalty.
  • Reciting the oath of allegiance is part of the naturalization ceremony.
• Allegiance clause: A provision in a contract or constitution requiring loyalty.
• Dual allegiance: The state of owing loyalty to two different nations, which can create conflicts of interest.

Idioms

• "My allegiance lies with...": A phrase used to declare where one's primary loyalty resides.
  • In this conflict, my allegiance lies with the truth.
• "To test someone's allegiance": To challenge or examine the strength of someone's loyalty.
  • The crisis tested the allegiance of every member.

Noun

1. the loyalty that citizens owe to their country (or subjects to their sovereign)
2. 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