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

  1. Loyalty to some cause, nation or ruler

Ancestry of “allegiance”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishalegiaunceAllegiance, loyalty (including duty and responsibility to one's feudal superior)
2Anglo-Normanalegaunceloyalty of a liege-servant to one's lord
3Old Frenchligeance—
4Old Frenchligeliege; liegeman; vassal
5Old Frenchliegeliege, servant; liege, free
6Vulgar Latinleviuscomparative degree of leviter
7Latinlēvislight, not heavy
8Proto-Italicleɣʷislight
9Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁léngʰuslightweight
10Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁lengʷʰ-light

Words derived from “allegiance”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁lengʷʰ- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁léngʰus →Every word from Proto-Italic leɣʷis →