allegiance

allegiance — noun

1. a strong feeling of duty that makes you faithfully back a country, leader, organ

1.nounC1
Definition

a strong feeling of duty that makes you faithfully back a country, leader, organisation, or set of beliefs, often expressed through a public promise.

Example

Each new soldier swore allegiance to the queen at a ceremony in the palace garden.

swear allegiance to + [leader/country]

Sven pledged her allegiance to the climate movement after seeing the floods in her village.

pledge allegiance to + [cause/group]

Common collocations
  • pledge allegiance
  • swear allegiance
  • owe allegiance
  • shift allegiance
  • transfer allegiance
  • oath of allegiance
  • declare one's allegiance
Synonyms
  • loyalty

    broader and less formal; works for friends, family, and brands as well as countries

  • fidelity

    literary or formal; emphasises faithfulness to a promise or partner

  • devotion

    stronger emotional warmth; suggests love rather than duty

Antonyms
  • betrayal

    the act of breaking allegiance, often deliberately

  • treachery

    stronger; suggests dangerous disloyalty to a country or leader

Grammar Patterns

allegiance to + noun

pledge/swear allegiance to

Usage Note

Frequently followed by 'to' plus a noun naming a country, leader, party, or cause. Often appears in fixed legal or ceremonial collocations: 'pledge/swear allegiance', 'oath of allegiance', 'owe allegiance'. Rarely used about everyday personal relationships — for that, use 'loyalty' instead.

Common Mistakes

I have allegiance with my best friend.
I am loyal to my best friend.
'allegiance' is for countries, leaders, parties, or causes, not casual personal bonds.
She pledged allegiance for the new king.
She pledged allegiance to the new king.
the preposition is always 'to', never 'for' or 'with'.

Word family

  • allegiances
    nounC1
  • liege
    nounC2
  • allegiant
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe staying faithful to someone or something, but they differ in scope and tone. 'Allegiance' is the most formal and public — it usually involves a country, ruler, party, or cause, and is often expressed through an oath or pledge. 'Loyalty' is the everyday word and stretches from nations down to friends, family, and even brands; it does not need a formal declaration. 'Fidelity' is more literary and frequently appears in talk about marriage vows or sticking faithfully to a promise or original text. 'Devotion' carries the strongest emotional warmth and suggests love or admiration rather than duty. So a citizen swears allegiance to the flag, shows loyalty to a friend, keeps fidelity to a vow, and feels devotion to a parent.

allegiance ↗loyalty ↗fidelity ↗devotion ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • oath of allegiance
  • pledge of allegiance
  • declaration of allegiance
  • change of allegiance

Adverbs

Phrases

  • pledge allegiance to
  • swear allegiance to
  • owe allegiance to
  • shift allegiance from X to Y
  • declare one's allegiance

Prepositions

  • allegiance to

Etymology

Old FrenchAnglo-FrenchMiddle EnglishModern English

The word entered English in the late 1300s from Old French 'ligeance', meaning the duty owed by a vassal to a lord, which itself came from 'lige' (meaning 'liege' or bound by feudal tie). The 'al-' prefix was added in English by analogy with words like 'allegation', and the spelling settled into its modern form by the 1500s. From its medieval roots in feudal duty, the meaning broadened to cover loyalty owed to any country, ruler, group, or cause.