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Added 9 October 2026

liege

/liːd͡ʒ/ noun

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about liege at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

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

adjective

Sovereign; independent; having authority or right to allegiance.
a liege lord
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
Full; perfect; complete; pure.

Origin

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”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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