fealty
/ˈfiː.əlti/ noun
Forms fealties fielty
- noun Fidelity to one's lord or master; the feudal obligation by which the tenant or vassal was bound to be faithful to his lord.
Synonyms
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English feaute, feute, from Anglo-Norman fëauté, fëuté, from Latin fidēlitās (“faithfulness”; “homage, fealty” in Medieval Latin), from fidēlis (“faithful”) + -tās (noun suffix); the modern form (for expected *feauty /ˈfjuːti/) is due to learned influence. Equivalent to obsolete feal + -ty. Doublet of fidelity.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Fidelity to one's lord; the feudal obligation by which the tenant or vassal was bound to be faithful to his lord; the special oath by which this obligation was assumed; fidelity to a superior power, or to a government; loyality. It is no longer the practice to exact the performance of fealty, as a feudal obligation. Wharton (Law Dict. ).
- noun Fidelity; constancy; faithfulness, as of a friend to a friend, or of a wife to her husband.
Etymology [OE. faute, OF. fauté, fealté, feelé, feelteit, fr. L. fidelitas, fr. fidelis faithful. See Feal, and cf. Fidelity.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “fealty”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details