Liege

1828.sorabji.com > Webster's 1828 English Dictionary

Browse Webster's 1828 Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language is regarded by many as the finest English dictionary ever published. The dictionary is available in many forms. I made the content available here for my own purposes, out of personal admiration for this particular dictionary.

You can also look up words at dict.sorabji.com

See my other projects: weather, dict, payphones, mailboxes, receipts, found photos, court documents, what is my ip?, and more at sorabji.com.

LIEGE, a. [L. ligo, to bind; Gr. to bind, to bend; a withe.]
1. Bound by a feudal tenure; obliged to be faithful and loyal to a superior, as a vassal to his lord; subject; faithful; as a liege man. By liege homage, a vassal was bound to serve his lord against all, without excepting his sovereign; or against all, excepting a former lord to whom he owed like service.
2. Sovereign; as a liege lord. [See the noun.]
LIEGE, n. [supra.]
1. A vassal holding a fee by which he is bound to perform certain services and duties to his lord.
2. A lord or superior; a sovereign.
[Note. This is a false application of the word, arising probably from transferring the word from the vassal to the lord; the lord of liege men, being called liege lord.