allegiance
/ə'li:dʤəns/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- 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
- the loyalty that citizens owe to their country (or subjects to their sovereign)
- 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