fealty

American  

[fee-uhl-tee] / ˈfi əl ti /

noun

• fealties
  plural

1. 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.

2. fidelity; faithfulness.

   Synonyms:

   devotion, loyalty

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fealty British  

/ ˈfiːəltɪ /

noun

1. (in feudal society) the loyalty sworn to one's lord on becoming his vassal See homage

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonfealty
  noun
• unfealty
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• fealties
  plural

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 But if you think fealty sounds like a word King Arthur would use, you're right: It's really an outdated term that primarily describes a vassal's sworn allegiance to a feudal lord.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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fealty fealties

And in these creations we find a wealth of details, impressive from both a technical standpoint in their fealty to the garments being copied.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

That fealty was enough for Trump to nominate Blanche to the position permanently.

From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2026

Elsewhere on X, Musk expressed support for the idea of hiring Mel Gibson to direct a version of “The Odyssey” entirely in Homeric Greek, with a focus on historical accuracy and fealty to Greek culture.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

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

"And this is Jojen Reed and his sister Meera, son and daughter to Howland Reed of Greywater Watch, who came to renew their oaths of fealty to Winterfell."

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

A Scorpio’s deepest fealties can only lie with beings they perceive as powerful as they are — or more so, complementing that inescapable desire to subjugate that which makes them feel powerless.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2024

The doors were shut, with the infant inside; the lights flew up; glasses clinked, merry healths were pledged, new fealties sworn by look alone.

From V. V.'s Eyes by Henry Sydnor Harrison

My passions are many, my loves more, my thoughts loyalty, and my fancy faith: all devoted in humble devoir to the service of Phœbe; and shall I reap no reward for such fealties?

From A History of Elizabethan Literature by George Saintsbury

And also, the fees, fealties, and seruices which belonged to him in the countie of Amund, and in the vallie called Vale Dosta; and in like maner, the towne of Castellone.

From Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (2 of 6): England (5 of 12) Henrie the Second by Raphael Holinshed

If Lydia was to be his—though already she seemed supremely his in all the shy fealties of the moment—not a petal of the flower of love should be lost to her.

From The Prisoner by Alice Brown

Related Words

• faithfulness
• loyalty