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fealty

[ fee-uhl-tee ]
/ ˈfi əl ti /
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fealty ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural fe·al·ties.

History/Historical.
  1. fidelity to a lord.
  2. the obligation or the engagement to be faithful to a lord, usually sworn to by a vassal.
fidelity; faithfulness.

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RELATED WORDS

faithfulness, loyalty, duty, constancy, fidelity, obligation, devotion

Nearby words

fdp, fdr, fe, fe., feal, fealty, fear, feared, fearful, fearfully, fearless

Origin of fealty

1275–1325; Middle English feute, feaute, fealtye < Anglo-French, Old French feauté, fealté < Latin fidēlitāt- (stem of fidēlitās) fidelity; internal -au-, -al- from feal, reshaping (by substitution of -al- -al1) of fe(d)eil < Latin fidēlis
SYNONYMS FOR fealty
2 loyalty, devotion.
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fealty ON THESAURUS.COM
Related formsnon·fe·al·ty, noun, plural non·fe·al·ties.un·fe·al·ty, noun, plural un·fe·al·ties.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for fealty

British Dictionary definitions for fealty

fealty

/ (ˈfiːəltɪ) /

noun plural -ties

(in feudal society) the loyalty sworn to one's lord on becoming his vassalSee homage (def. 2)

Word Origin for fealty

C14: from Old French fealte, from Latin fidēlitās fidelity
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fealty

fealty

n.

c.1300, from Old French feauté "loyalty, fidelity; homage sworn by a vassal to his overlord; faithfulness," from Latin fidelitatem (nominative fidelitas) "fidelity," from fidelis "loyal, faithful" (see fidelity).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper