English
fidelity
Fidelity comes from Middle English fidelite ‘allegiance, fealty’.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fidelite‘allegiance, fealty’
- Englishearliest quotation 1534fidelity
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fidelite‘allegiance, fealty’
- Englishearliest quotation 1534fidelity
Earliest quotation: 1534, Thomas More, Mary Basset]: “[O]ure lord Jeſus hymſelfe dooth tetifye vnto vs that…”
The story
Fidēlis is derived from fidēs (‘belief, faith; confidence, trust; loyalty, fidelity; etc.’) (from Proto-Indo-European *bʰidʰ-, the zero-grade of *bʰeydʰ- (‘to convince; to trust’) (whence English bide)) + -ēlis (a variant of -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship)).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeydʰ- ‘to command, to persuade, to trust’
federal, confidence, federation, confident, confederate, defy, abide, defiance, affidavit, bode, fiduciary, foi, confidant, confide, bide, diffident, 26 more
through Latin fidēs ‘faith, trust’
through Latin fidēlis ‘dependable, trustworthy’
through Latin fidēlitās ‘faithfulness, fidelity’
Today it means
noun Often followed by to or towards: faithfulness or loyalty towards a person, a group, one's civic or moral duties, etc.; allegiance; (countable) an instance of this.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English fidelite / fidelity