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Glite Dictionary
liege subject

liege subject

9.9
A person who owes loyalty and service to a lord in medieval times
  • noun
  • /liːdʒ ˈsʌbdʒɪkt/
  • Archaic
translation icon : súbdito feudal
  • Every liege subject swore an oath of loyalty to their feudal lord upon receiving land.

Examples

  • The liege subjects were expected to provide military support to their lord in times of war.

  • The king summoned his liege subject to the castle to discuss matters of the realm.

  • The second provision of the Declaration of Rights issued by the Stamp Act Congress on October 19, 1765, asserted: "That his majesty's liege subjects in these colonies are entitled to all the inherent rights and privileges of his natural born subjects within the kingdom of Great Britain."

    Academic text (2004)

Synonyms

subject
vsliege subject
  • UK
76 7.4

A person who owes loyalty to a king or queen

is more specific focusing on land based feudal loyalty and service
vassal
vsliege subject
7 9.9

A person in the Middle Ages who holds land from a lord and must fight for him

focuses on the same feudal land and service relation as the entry
liege
vsliege subject
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A person who holds land and must give loyalty and service to a lord

has identical meaning but is the general headword in this entry
feudatory
vsliege subject
9.9

A person who holds land and owes loyalty and service to a lord

is the broader concept of land-based loyalty rather than the specific fief term
liegeman
vsliege subject
  • Archaic
9.9

A man who promises to serve and be loyal to a lord

is the same role but without male specific wording in this entry
liegewoman
vsliege subject
  • Archaic
9.9

A woman who holds land from a lord and owes him service and loyalty

is the general term not limited by female specific wording

Surface Forms

liege subject singular
liege subjects plural

Morphology

liege + subject

Both constituents directly signal feudal allegiance: 'liege' relates to the feudal relationship and 'subject' denotes someone owing allegiance, so the combined phrase straightforwardly describes a person who owes loyalty to a lord. This is a compositional, predictable meaning that a B1 learner who knows both words can infer, and similar constructions exist in many languages.

Etymology

Liege subject comes from medieval times when people lived under lords. A person would kneel and promise 'loyalty' and 'service' to a lord, becoming that lord's personal liege or subject, so the phrase means someone who must be loyal and serve a ruler.