different between liege vs liage

English

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 liþi? (“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 laetus (“a semi-free colonist”), from Gothic *???????????????? (*l?ts) (attested in derivatives such as ???????????????????????????? (fral?ts)), from Proto-Germanic *l?taz (“freeman; bondsman, serf”), from Proto-Germanic *l?tan? (“to let; free; release”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -i?d?, Rhymes: -i??
• (UK, General American) IPA^(key): /li?d?/, /li??/

Noun

liege (plural lieges)

1. A free and independent person; specifically, a lord paramount; a sovereign.
2. (in full liege lord) A king or lord.
   • 1595, William Shakespeare, Richard II, Act III Scene 2

     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.

Translations

Adjective

liege (not comparable)

1. Sovereign; independent; having authority or right to allegiance.

   a liege lord

   • 1847, Alfred Tennyson, The Princess

     She look'd as grand as doomsday and as grave: / And he, he reverenced his liege lady there;

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.

   a liege man; a liege subject

3. (obsolete, law) Full; perfect; complete; pure.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Burrill to this entry?)

Translations

Related terms

• liege lord
• liegeman

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?li.??/

Verb

liege

1. (archaic) singular present subjunctive of liegen

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?li?.??/

Verb

liege

1. first-person singular indicative present of liegen
2. first-person singular subjunctive present of liegen
3. third-person singular subjunctive present of liegen

Middle English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Late Latin leuca, leuga.

Noun

liege

1. Alternative form of lege (“league”)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman lige.

Noun

liege

1. Alternative form of lege (“liege”)

Adjective

liege

1. Alternative form of lege (adjective)

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

Compare German lügen, Dutch liegen, English lie.

Verb

liege

1. to tell a lie

English

Etymology

Compare Old French liage (“a bond”). See liable.

Noun

liage

1. (obsolete) Union by league; alliance.

Anagrams

• Eliga, agile

Middle English

Noun

liage

1. Alternative form of lege (“liege”)

Adjective

liage

1. Alternative form of lege (adjective)

Old French

Etymology

lier +? -age.

Noun

liage m (oblique plural liages, nominative singular liages, nominative plural liage)

1. link; tie; bond (something used to link two or more things together)

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (liage)