Standard Lemma guide

liege

adj · name · noun · 11 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American, UK: /liːd͡ʒ/
  • General-American, UK: /liːʒ/
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -iːdʒ
  • rhymes with -iːʒ
  • CMU ARPABET: L IY1 JH Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Sovereign; independent; having authority or right to allegiance.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • a liege lord

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • a liege man; a liege subject

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Full; perfect; complete; pure.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable, obsolete

Topics: law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

name

Meaning 4

Alternative form of Liège, a city in Belgium.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, alternative

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A free and independent person; specifically, a lord paramount; a sovereign.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

A king or lord.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

The subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

adjective satellite

Meaning 8

owing or owed feudal allegiance and service

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • one's liege lord
  • a liege subject

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

city in eastern Belgium; largest French-speaking city in Belgium

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Luik

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: city, metropolis, urban center

10

noun

Meaning 10

a feudal lord entitled to allegiance and service

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: liege lord

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: feudal lord, seigneur, seignior

11

noun

Meaning 11

a person holding a fief; a person who owes allegiance and service to a feudal lord

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: vassal, liegeman, liege subject, feudatory

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: follower

History

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”).

Across languages

Translations

46 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: lige — sovereign; independent; having authority or right to allegiance
  • Hungarian: hűbér- — sovereign; independent; having authority or right to allegiance
  • Macedonian: властелински (vlastelinski) — sovereign; independent; having authority or right to allegiance
  • Bulgarian: васалски (vasalski) — serving an independent sovereign or master
  • French: lige — serving an independent sovereign or master
  • Hungarian: hűbéres — serving an independent sovereign or master
  • Hungarian: hűbéri — serving an independent sovereign or master
  • Macedonian: вазален (vazalen) — serving an independent sovereign or master
  • Catalan: senyor — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • Czech: lenní pán — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • Dutch: leenheer — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • Dutch: soeverein — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • Esperanto: feŭdestro — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • Finnish: lääninherra — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • French: suzerain — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • Galician: señor — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • Galician: castelán — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • Galician: coíme — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • German: Lehnsherr — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • Hungarian: hűbérúr — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • Macedonian: властелин (vlastelin) — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • Macedonian: феуда́лец (feudálec) — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • Macedonian: земјопоседник (zemjoposednik) — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • Portuguese: senhor feudal — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • Portuguese: suserano — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • Romanian: suzeran — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • Romanian: senior — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • Russian: сеньо́р (senʹór) — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • Spanish: señor feudal — a free and independent person; a lord paramount; a sovereign
  • Bulgarian: васал (vasal) — the subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman
  • Catalan: vassall — the subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman
  • Czech: vazal — the subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman
  • Dutch: vazal — the subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman
  • Dutch: leenman — the subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman
  • Finnish: vasalli — the subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman
  • French: vassal — the subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman
  • Galician: vasalo — the subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman
  • German: Gefolgsmann — the subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman
  • German: Vasall — the subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman
  • Hungarian: hűbéres — the subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman
  • Hungarian: vazallus — the subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman
  • Italian: vassallo — the subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman
  • Macedonian: вазал (vazal) — the subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman
  • Portuguese: vassalo — the subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman
  • Romanian: vasal — the subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman
  • Spanish: vasallo — the subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman