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liege

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liege¹

  • /liːd͡ʒ/ US, UK
  • /liːʒ/ US, UK

Rhymes with -iːdʒ, -iːʒ

Where it comes from

From Middle English liege, lege, lige, from Anglo-Norman lige, from Old French liege (“liege, free”), from Middle High German ledic, ledec (“free, empty, vacant”) (Modern German ledig (“unmarried”)) from Proto-Germanic *liþugaz (“flexible, free, unoccupied”).

Akin to Old Frisian leþeg, leþoch (“free”), Old English liþiġ (“flexible”), Old Norse liðugr (“free, unhindered”), Old Saxon lethig (“idle”), Low German leddig (“empty”), Middle Dutch ledich (“idle, unemployed”) (Dutch ledig (“empty”) and leeg (“empty”)), Middle English lethi (“unoccupied, at leisure”).

An alternate etymology traces the Old French word to Late Latin laeticus (“of or relating to a semifree colonist in Gaul”), from Latin laetus (“a semi-free colonist”), from Gothic *𐌻𐌴𐍄𐍃 (*lēts) (attested in derivatives such as 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌻𐌴𐍄𐍃 (fralēts)), from Proto-Germanic *lētaz (“freeman; bondsman, serf”), from *lētaną (“to let; free; release”).

noun lieges

  1. A free and independent person; specifically, a lord paramount; a sovereign.
  2. in full liege lord A king or lord. More health and happiness betide my liege / Than can my care-tuned tongue deliver him!
  3. The subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman.

adjective

  1. not comparable Sovereign; independent; having authority or right to allegiance. a liege lord
  2. not comparable Serving an independent sovereign or master; bound by a feudal tenure; obliged to be faithful and loyal to a superior, such as a vassal to his lord; faithful. a liege man; a liege subject
  3. not comparable, obsolete Full; perfect; complete; pure. it was a release by Katherine de Ros in her liege widowhood to Sir Thomas de Stirkeland

Liege²

proper noun

  1. alternative Alternative form of Liège, a city in Belgium.

Translations

Every language

noun a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign

Españolseñor feudal
Portuguêssenhor feudal, suserano
Françaissuzerain
DeutschLehnsherr
Românăsuzeran, senior
Русскийсеньо́р senʹór

noun the subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman

Españolvasallo
Portuguêsvassalo
Françaisvassal
DeutschGefolgsmann, Vasall
Italianovassallo
Românăvasal

adj sovereign; independent; having authority or right to allegiance

Françaislige

adj serving an independent sovereign or master

Françaislige

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Cite this
MLA

"liege." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/liege. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

liege. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/liege

Chicago

"liege." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/liege.

BibTeX
@misc{liege_2026,
  title = {liege},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/liege},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}