Where does “allegiance” come from?
Allegiance comes from Middle English aliegiaunce, from Anglo-Norman alegaunce, from Anglo-Norman legaunce.
allegiance (English): Loyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Definitions
- Loyalty to some cause, nation or ruler
Ancestry of “allegiance”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | alegiaunce | — |
| 2 | Anglo-Norman | alegaunce | loyalty of a liege-servant to one's lord |
| 3 | Old French | ligeance | — |
| 4 | Old French | lige | liege; liegeman; vassal |
| 5 | Old French | liege | liege, servant; liege, free |
| 6 | Vulgar Latin | levius | comparative degree of leviter |
| 7 | Latin | lēvis | — |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | leɣʷis | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁léngʰus | lightweight |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁lengʷʰ- | light |