Definitions for: Liege


[n] city in eastern Belgium; largest French-speaking city in Belgium
[n] a person holding a fief
[adj] owing or owed feudal allegiance and service; "one's liege lord"; "a liege subject"



Webster (1913) Definition: 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.

She looked as grand as doomsday and as grave; And
he, he reverenced his liege lady there. --Tennyson.

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.

3. (Old Law) Full; perfect; complete; pure. --Burrill.

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.]


Liege (l[=e]j), n.
1. A free and independent person; specif., a lord paramount;
a sovereign. --Mrs. Browning.

The anointed sovereign of sighs and groans, Liege of
all loiterers and malcontents. --Shak.

2. The subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman.

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.

Synonyms: feudatory, liege subject, liegeman, loyal, Luik, vassal

See Also: Belgique, Belgium, city, follower, Kingdom of Belgium, metropolis, urban center

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