Homage is generally used in modern English to mean any public show of respect to someone to whom you feel indebted. In this sense, a reference within a creative work to someone who greatly influenced the artist would be an homage.

The original meaning of homage was the ceremony in which a feudal tenant or vassal pledged reverence and submission to his feudal lord, receiving in exchange the symbolic title to his new position (investiture). It was a symbolic acknowledgment to the lord that the vassal was, literally, his man (homme). More generally, it included any formal profession of reverence to a sovereign.

for a description of the medieval homage ceremony see commendation ceremony

See also

Fealty, allegiance, bond, call of duty, charge, responsibility, duty, good faith, honor, line of duty , mission, presenting arms , service.