'Liege' definitions:
Definition of 'liege'
(from WordNet)
adjective
Owing or owed feudal allegiance and service; "one's liege lord"; "a liege subject"
noun
A person holding a fief; a person who owes allegiance and service to a feudal lord [syn: vassal, liege, liegeman, liege subject, feudatory]
noun
A feudal lord entitled to allegiance and service [syn: liege, liege lord]
noun
City in eastern Belgium; largest French-speaking city in Belgium [syn: Liege, Luik]
Definition of 'Liege'
From: GCIDE
- Liege \Liege\ (l[=e]j), n.
- 1. A free and independent person; specif., a lord paramount; a sovereign. --Mrs. Browning. [1913 Webster]
- The anointed sovereign of sighs and groans, Liege of all loiterers and malcontents. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- 2. The subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman. [1913 Webster]
- A liege lord seems to have been a lord of a free band; and his lieges, though serving under him, were privileged men, free from all other obligations, their name being due to their freedom, not to their service. --Skeat. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Liege'
From: GCIDE
- Liege \Liege\ (l[=e]j), a. [OE. lige, lege, F. lige, LL. ligius, legius, liege, unlimited, complete, prob. of German origin; cf. G. ledig free from bonds and obstacles, MHG. ledec, ledic, lidic, freed, loosed, and Charta Ottonis de Benthem, ann. 1253, "ligius homo quod Teutonic[`e] dicitur ledigman," i. e., uni soli homagio obligatus, free from all obligations to others; influenced by L. ligare to bind. G. ledig perh. orig. meant, free to go where one pleases, and is perh. akin to E. lead to conduct. Cf. Lead to guide.]
- 1. Sovereign; independent; having authority or right to allegiance; as, a liege lord. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
- She looked as grand as doomsday and as grave; And he, he reverenced his liege lady there. --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]
- 2. serving an independent sovereign or master; bound by a feudal tenure; obliged to be faithful and loyal to a superior, as a vassal to his lord; faithful; loyal; as, a liege man; a liege subject. [1913 Webster]
- 3. (Old Law) Full; perfect; complete; pure. --Burrill. [1913 Webster]
- Liege homage (Feudal Custom), that homage of one sovereign or prince to another which acknowledged an obligation of fealty and services.
- Liege poustie [L. legitima potestas] (Scots Law), perfect, i. e., legal, power; specif., having health requisite to do legal acts.
- Liege widowhood, perfect, i. e., pure, widowhood. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'liege'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- ardent,
- bondmaid,
- bondman,
- bondslave,
- bondsman,
- bondswoman,
- boss,
- bwana,
- captive,
- chattel,
- chattel slave,
- chef,
- chief,
- church dignitary,
- churl,
- client,
- concubine,
- constant,
- creature,
- debt slave,
- dependent,
- ecclesiarch,
- elder,
- employer,
- feudal,
- feudatory,
- flunky,
- follower,
- galley slave,
- goodman,
- guru,
- hanger-on,
- helot,
- homager,
- husband,
- inferior,
- lackey,
- liege lord,
- liege man,
- liege subject,
- lord,
- lord paramount,
- loyal,
- master,
- minion,
- myrmidon,
- odalisque,
- overlord,
- padrone,
- paramount,
- paterfamilias,
- patriarch,
- patron,
- peon,
- rabbi,
- resolute,
- retainer,
- sahib,
- seigneur,
- seignior,
- serf,
- servant,
- servile,
- slave,
- starets,
- staunch,
- steadfast,
- stooge,
- subject,
- subordinate,
- subservient,
- teacher,
- theow,
- thrall,
- tributary,
- true,
- underling,
- understrapper,
- vassal,
- villein,
- yeoman