Liege
King James Dictionary [1]
Liege, a. L. ligo, to bind Gr. to bind, to bend a withe.
1. Bound by a feudal tenure obliged to be faithful and loyal to a superior, as a vassal to his lord subject faithful as a liege man. By liege homage, a vassal was bound to serve his lord against all, without excepting his sovereign or against all, excepting a former lord to whom he owed like service. 2. Sovereign as a liege lord. See the noun.
Liege, n. supra.
1. A vassal holding a fee by which he is bound to perform certain services and duties to his lord. 2. A lord or superior a sovereign.
Note. This is a false application of the word, arising probably from transferring the word from the vassal to the lord the lord of liege men, being called liege lord.
Webster's Dictionary [2]
(1): ( n.) A free and independent person; specif., a lord paramount; a sovereign.
(2): ( n.) The subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman.
(3): ( a.) Full; perfect; complete; pure.
(4): ( a.) Sovereign; independent; having authority or right to allegiance; as, a liege lord.
(5): ( a.) Serving an independent sovereign or master; bound by a feudal tenure; obliged to be faithful and loyal to a superior, as a vassal to his lord; faithful; loyal; as, a liege man; a liege subject.
The Nuttall Encyclopedia [3]
A town in Belgium and capital of the Walloons, in a very picturesque region at the confluence of the Ourthe with the Meuse, the busiest town in Belgium and a chief seat of the woollen manufacture; it is divided in two by the Meuse, which is spanned by 17 bridges; it is the centre of a great mining district, and besides woollens has manufactures of machinery, and steel and iron goods.
