Etymograph

English

fidelity

Fidelity comes from Middle English fidelite ‘allegiance, fealty’.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fidelite1‘allegiance, fealty’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1534fidelity1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English fidelity
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1534, Thomas More, Mary Basset]: “[O]ure lord Jeſus hymſelfe dooth tetifye vnto vs that…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fideliteWiktionary, English fidelity‘allegiance, fealty’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1534fidelityWiktionary, English fidelity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 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)).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

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’

perfidy, 6 more

through Latin fidēlis ‘dependable, trustworthy’

infidel, 2 more

through Latin fidēlitās ‘faithfulness, fidelity’

fealty

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.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “fidelity”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle English fidelite / fidelity

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