liege

Meaning

Noun

1. A free and independent person; specifically, a lord paramount; a sovereign.
2. A king or lord.
3. The subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman.

Adj

1. Sovereign; independent; having authority or right to allegiance.
2. 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.
3. (obsolete) Full; perfect; complete; pure.

Synonyms

vassal

feudatory

liege subject

liegeman

lord

liege lord

squire

sire

suzerain

seignior

feudal

master

monsieur

monsignor

principal

seigneur

senor

signor

sir

superior

Mister

signior

archon

mesne lord

don

esquire

faithful

feud

feudalistic

feudal lord

gentleman

🤵‍♂️

grandee

loyal

magistrate

magnate

Pronounced as (IPA)

/liːd͡ʒ/

Etymology

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”).