fealty
Americannoun
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History/Historical.
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fidelity to a lord.
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the obligation or the engagement to be faithful to a lord, usually sworn to by a vassal.
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noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fealty
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English feute, feaute, fealtye, from Anglo-French, Old French feauté, fealté, from Latin fidēlitāt- (stem of fidēlitās ) fidelity; internal -au-, -al- from feal, reshaping (by substitution of -al- -al 1 ) of fe(d)eil, from Latin fidēlis
Explanation
The noun fealty is another way of saying "loyalty" or "faithfulness." Your sister will allow you to join the secret club meetings in her treehouse only if you first promise fealty to the other members. Some school kids pledge their fealty, or allegiance, to the United States of America every morning in homeroom. But if you think fealty sounds like a word King Arthur would use, you're right: It's really an outdated term that primarily describes a vassal's sworn allegiance to a feudal lord. Fealty, like the word fidelity derives from the Latin root "fidelitas."
Vocabulary lists containing fealty
Freak the Mighty
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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Tolkien Reading Day, List 8
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Soldiers fight, Chesterton says, because their cause is bound up with their affections for their family and fealty to their God.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026
Notably, when pressed on fealty to the current state of Israel, he refused to accept anything short of a state “with equal rights for all.”
From Slate • Jun. 25, 2025
“Cobra Kai” refused to die not out of fealty to the namesake dojo’s motto, but as a business matter.
From Salon • Feb. 13, 2025
"I really did feel a tremendous loyalty to MI6," the Soviet double agent said, but his over-ruling fealty was to "the other side".
From BBC • Jan. 14, 2025
"I want Lady Lysa and her son to acclaim Joffrey as king, to swear fealty, and to—" "—make war on the Starks and TVillys?"
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
