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Definition of allegiance noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

allegiance

noun
 
/əˈliːdʒəns/
 
/əˈliːdʒəns/
[uncountable, countable]
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  1. a person’s continued support for a political party, religion, leader, etc.
    • to switch/transfer/change allegiance
    • an oath/a vow/a statement of allegiance
    • People of various party allegiances joined the campaign.
    • allegiance (to somebody/something) to pledge/swear allegiance
    • He affirmed his allegiance to the president.
    Extra Examples
    • Every day the children say the Pledge of Allegiance.
    • Every day the schoolchildren pledge an oath of allegiance to their country.
    • She is now very rich but her allegiance to her working-class origins is still strong.
    • They keep everyone guessing about their true allegiance.
    • He owed his allegiance to the organization that had given him all his opportunities.
    • It is hard to keep up with the changing allegiances between the various political parties.
    • Love of one's country does not mean blind allegiance to a regime.
    • Many people have abandoned their traditional party allegiances.
    • New officers take an oath of allegiance to their country.
    • The rebels now have to swear allegiance to a leader they hate.
    • The union needs to retain the allegiance of all its members for the strike to succeed.
    • The various splinter groups all claim allegiance to the true spirit of the movement.
    • We will give our full allegiance to the party and everything it believes in.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • full
    • strong
    • traditional
    verb + allegiance
    • give
    • owe
    • declare
    preposition
    • allegiance to
    phrases
    • an oath of allegiance
    • a pledge of allegiance
    See full entry
    Word Originlate Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French, variant of Old French ligeance, from lige, liege (from medieval Latin laeticus, probably of Germanic origin), perhaps by association with Anglo-Latin alligantia ‘alliance’.
See allegiance in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee allegiance in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English

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