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Entry 5 senses · 2 variants Webster, 1913

Liege

/(lēj)/ · IPA /liːd͡ʒ/
01 a. Sovereign; independent; having authority or right to allegiance; as, a liege lord.
  1. 1.
    Sovereign; independent; having authority or right to allegiance; as, a liege lord.
    “She looked as grand as doomsday and as grave; And he, he reverenced his liege lady there.” — Tennyson.
  2. 2.
    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.
  3. 3.
    Full; perfect; complete; pure.(Old Law)
Phrases & compounds
Liege homage — that homage of one sovereign or prince to another which acknowledged an obligation of fealty and services.
Liege poustie — perfect, i. e., legal, power; specif., having health requisite to do legal acts.
Liege widowhood — perfect, i. e., pure, widowhood.
02 n. A free and independent person; specif., a lord paramount; a sovereign.
  1. 1.
    A free and independent person; specif., a lord paramount; a sovereign.
    “The anointed sovereign of sighs and groans, Liege of all loiterers and malcontents.” — Shak.
  2. 2.
    The subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman.
    “A liege lord seems to have been a lord of a free band; and his lieges, though serving under him, were privileged men, free from all other obligations, their name being due to their freedom, not to their service.” — Skeat.