The First Allegiance

Thinking out loud about the things that matter.

The New Oxford American dictionary defines “allegiance” as

al·le·giance| əˈlējəns | noun
loyalty or commitment of a subordinate to a superior or of an individual to a group or cause.

The word comes from feudalism—from the concept of one’s liege lord—but like most words in English (and many relationships) it’s complicated. And yet most people understand wha…