*gian*

n. [ OE. alegeaunce; pref. a- + OF. lige, liege. The meaning was influenced by L. ligare to bind, and even by lex, legis, law. See Liege, Ligeance. ] 1. The tie or obligation, implied or expressed, which a subject owes to his sovereign or government; the duty of fidelity to one's king, government, or state. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Devotion; loyalty; as, allegiance to science. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Loyalty; fealty. -- Allegiance, Loyalty. These words agree in expressing the general idea of fidelity and attachment to the “powers that be.” Allegiance is an obligation to a ruling power. Loyalty is a feeling or sentiment towards such power. Allegiance may exist under any form of government, and, in a republic, we generally speak of allegiance to the government, to the state, etc. In well conducted monarchies, loyalty is a warm-hearted feeling of fidelity and obedience to the sovereign. It is personal in its nature; and hence we speak of the loyalty of a wife to her husband, not of her allegiance. In cases where we personify, loyalty is more commonly the word used; as, loyalty to the constitution; loyalty to the cause of virtue; loyalty to truth and religion, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hear me, recreant, on thine allegiance hear me! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

So spake the Seraph Abdiel, faithful found, . . .
Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified,
His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Loyal. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. Alogiani, Alogii, fr. Gr. &unr_;; 'a priv. + &unr_; word. ] (Eccl.) One of an ancient sect who rejected St. John's Gospel and the Apocalypse, which speak of Christ as the Logos. Shipley. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An archæologist. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. astrologien. ] An astrologer. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to Belgium. -- n. A native or inhabitant of Belgium. [ 1913 Webster ]

. An oblong, often nearly cubical, block of some tough stone, esp. granite, used as a material for street pavements. Its usual diameter is 5 to 7 inches. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. [ From Brobdingnag, a country of giants in “Gulliver's Travels.” ] Colossal; of extraordinary height; gigantic. -- n. A giant. [ Spelt often Brobdignagian. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A native or resident of Cambridge; esp. a student or graduate of the university of Cambridge, England. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. Carlovingen. ] Pertaining to, founded by, of descended from, Charlemagne; as, the Carlovingian race of kings. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. chondropterygien. ] Having a cartilaginous skeleton. -- n. One of the Chondropterygii. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, or to his poetry or metaphysics. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A member of a college, particularly of a literary institution so called; a student in a college. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Of or pertaining to the Crossopterygii. -- n. One of the Crossopterygii. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. di- = di`s- twice + &unr_; a fin, dim. of &unr_; wing. ] (Zool.) Having two dorsal fins; -- said of certain fishes. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to Terra del Fuego. -- n. A native of Terra del Fuego. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Of or pertaining to the Fungidæ, a family of stony corals. -- n. One of the Fungidæ. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Pertaining to, resembling, or containing, gamboge. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. A geologist.

a. 1. Of or pertaining to Georgia, a former Soviet republic, now an independent country in the Causcuses in Asia, or to Georgia, one of the United States. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of or relating to the reigns of the four Georges, kings of Great Britan; as, the Georgian era. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A native of, or dweller in, Georgia. [ 1913 Webster ]

. British or British colonial architecture of the period of the four Georges, especially that of the period before 1800. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ OE. giant, geant, geaunt, OF. jaiant, geant, F. géant, L. gigas, fr. Gr. &unr_;, &unr_;, from the root of E. gender, genesis. See Gender, and cf. Gigantic. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A man of extraordinari bulk and stature. [ 1913 Webster ]

Giants of mighty bone and bold emprise. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A person of extraordinary strength or powers, bodily or intellectual. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Any animal, plant, or thing, of extraordinary size or power. [ 1913 Webster ]

Giant's Causeway, a vast collection of basaltic pillars, in the county of Antrim on the northern coast of Ireland. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Like a giant; extraordinary in size, strength, or power; as, giant brothers; a giant son. [ 1913 Webster ]

Giant cell. (Anat.) See Myeloplax. --
Giant clam (Zool.), a bivalve shell of the genus Tridacna, esp. T. gigas, which sometimes weighs 500 pounds. The shells are sometimes used in churches to contain holy water. --
Giant heron (Zool.), a very large African heron (Ardeomega goliath). It is the largest heron known. --
Giant kettle, a pothole of very large dimensions, as found in Norway in connection with glaciers. See Pothole. --
Giant powder. See Nitroglycerin. --
Giant puffball (Bot.), a fungus (Lycoperdon giganteum), edible when young, and when dried used for stanching wounds. --
Giant salamander (Zool.), a very large aquatic salamander (Megalobatrachus maximus), found in Japan. It is the largest of living Amphibia, becoming a yard long. --
Giant squid (Zool.), one of several species of very large squids, belonging to Architeuthis and allied genera. Some are over forty feet long. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A woman of extraordinary size. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ Cf. F. géantiser. ] To play the giant. [ R. ] Sherwood. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Appropriate to a giant. [ Obs. ] Usher. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The race of giants. [ R. ] Cotgrave. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state, personality, or character, of a giant; -- a compellation for a giant. [ 1913 Webster ]

His giantship is gone somewhat crestfallen. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. a. of or pertaining to Carl Jung, Swiss psychiatrist. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. See Ligeance. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. of or pertaining to Luxembourg (definition 2); as, Luxembourgian food. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Of or pertaining to the Magi. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One of the Magi, or priests of the Zoroastrian religion in Persia; an adherent of the Zoroastrian religion. -- Ma"gi*an*ism n. [1913 Webster]

n. [ Cf. F. malacoptérygien. ] (Zool.) One of the Malacopterygii. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From Merovaeus, the Latin name of a king of the Franks. ] Of or pertaining to the first Frankish dynasty in Gaul or France. -- n. One of the kings of this dynasty. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A mythologist. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Neologic; neological. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A neologist. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Neologism. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. a. [ Cf. Icel. Noregr, Norvegr, Norway. See North, and Way. ] Of or pertaining to Norway, its inhabitants, or its language. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. 1. A native of Norway. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That branch of the Scandinavian language spoken in Norway. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. Ogygius, Gr. 'Ogy`gios. ] Of or pertaining to Ogyges, a mythical king of ancient Attica, or to a great deluge in Attica in his days; hence, primeval; of obscure antiquity. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. pelagius, Gr. pela`gios, fr. pe`lagos the sea: cf. F. pélagien. ] Of or pertaining to the sea; marine; pelagic; as, pelagian shells. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. Pelagianus: cf. F. pélagien. ] (Eccl. Hist.) A follower of Pelagius, a British monk, born in the later part of the 4th century, who denied the doctrines of hereditary sin, of the connection between sin and death, and of conversion through grace. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. pélagien. ] Of or pertaining to Pelagius, or to his doctrines. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. pélagianisme. ] The doctrines of Pelagius. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ L. Pelasgus, Gr. Pelasgo`s a Pelasgian. ] 1. Of or pertaining to the Pelasgians, an ancient people of Greece, of roving habits. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) Wandering. [ 1913 Webster ]