fə̇ˈdeləd.ē, fīˈ-, -lətē, -i noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English fidelite, from Middle French fidelité, from Latin fidelitat-, fidelitas — more at fealty
1.
a. : the quality or state of being faithful or loyal (as to a person, cause, party, or nation) : loyalty ; specifically : adherence to the marriage contract : conjugal loyalty
b. : accuracy in details (as in the reproduction of a manuscript, the reporting of an event, the performance of a duty) : exactness
2. obsolete : word of honor
3.
a. : the degree to which an electronic device (as a radio receiving set, phonograph, or recording device) accurately reproduces at its output end the signal or wave form received at its input end
b. : the relative tendency of a kind of organism (as a species) to be restricted to the ecological community to which it is most perfectly adapted — often used with a percentage expressing the degree to which such a tendency has developed
a substory plant of the beech-maple community with a 90 percent fidelity
— compare exclusive 1b
Synonyms:
allegiance , fealty , loyalty , devotion , piety : fidelity implies strict and continuing faithfulness as to an obligation, trust, or duty
a profound reverence for and fidelity to the truth, sometimes almost amounting to fanaticism — H.L.Mencken
the oath which might be exacted — that of fidelity to the constitution — is prescribed — John Marshall
it is equally certain, without any groundless aspersion of Harriet's conjugal fidelity, that the fault was not Shelley's — Richard Garnett †1906
allegiance suggests adherence as that of medieval vassal to his lord or of a modern free citizen to his country
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands — Francis Bellamy
to exclude unnaturalized foreigners; the latter forming no part of the sovereignty, owing it no allegiance, and therefore under no obligation to defend it — R.B.Taney
he claims no political allegiance, is a member of the bipartisan National Committee on Strengthening Congress — Current Biography
fealty implies a strict fidelity acknowledged and cherished by the individual
abolitionism, to which I swore fealty — J.R.Lowell
constant in fealty to his faith, extracting fresh allegiance — W.O.Clough
profoundly grateful and emboldened by their comradeship and their fealty — A.E.Stevenson †1965
loyalty may imply steadfast and reliable personal attachment; in today's English it is taken to indicate absence of anything treasonable or subversive
the loyalties which lead men to go to war — Virginia Woolf
western man subordinated religious loyalties to national ones — Isaac Deutscher
loyalty in these terms is allegiance to the democratic way of life, to the process or system that welcomes into free competition even the most loathsome ideas — New Republic
devotion may indicate zealous self-dedication and ardent attachment
in the Declaration of the Rights of Man adopted amid swirling revolution in 1789, France rose to a height of devotion to human liberties from which she has never receded — F.A.Ogg & Harold Zink
he loved with a passionate intensity of devotion the greatness of Roman traditions, and the memory of the mighty dead — Agnes Repplier
a devotion to the welfare of children, a complete absorption in the business of parenthood, and a willingness not only to subordinate all other interests to those of the offspring, but, if necessary, to lay down life itself upon the altar of family duty — J.W.Krutch
piety applies to fidelity to spiritual or natural obligations
piety is the knowledge and worship of the gods: it consists in forming an adequate conception of them and imitating their perfection — Frank Thilly
the principle of filial piety, which has existed throughout the world and is embodied in the Fifth Commandment — Bertrand Russell