fealty

English

Alternative forms

• fielty

Etymology

From Middle English feaute, feute, from Anglo-Norman fëauté, fëuté, from Latin fidēlitās (“faithfulness”; “homage, fealty” in Medieval Latin), from fidēlis (“faithful”) +‎ -tās (noun suffix); the modern form (for expected *feauty /ˈfjuːti/) is due to learned influence. Equivalent to obsolete feal +‎ -ty. Doublet of fidelity.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfiː.əlti/, /ˈfiːlti/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iəlti

Noun

fealty (countable and uncountable, plural fealties)

1. Fidelity to one's lord or master; the feudal obligation by which the tenant or vassal was bound to be faithful to his lord.

   Synonyms: fidelity, allegiance, faithfulness

   • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VI, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 111:

     I doubt whether the most devoted fidelity would bear strict examination as to the short reposes even the most entire fealty permits itself.

   • 2020 November 18, Richard Fausset, Jonathan Martin, “In Georgia, a Republican Feud With Trump at the Center”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     And yet the war has come, full of double-crossing, internecine accusations of lying and incompetence, and a bitter cleavage into factions over the question of how much fealty should be shown to President Trump — and the extent to which Republicans should amplify his false argument that the election in this fast-changing Southern state was stolen from him.

   • 2023 May 16, Paul Sonne, Anton Troianovski, “As Ukrainian Attack Looms, Putin Faces Setbacks and Disunity in Russian Forces”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:

     In one recent video, he said the problem posed by a Russian military led by people who demand nothing but blind fealty would need to be dealt with — “or one day the Russian people will solve it themselves.”

2. The oath by which this obligation was assumed.

Related terms

• fidelity

Translations

fidelity to one's lord

• Bulgarian: васална вярност (vasalna vjarnost)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 忠順／忠顺 (zh) (zhōngshùn)

• Czech: věrnost (cs) f (panovníkovi)
• Danish: troskab c
• Dutch: trouw (nl) m, vazallen eed m
• Finnish: vasallin uskollisuus
• French: fidélité (fr) f, loyauté (fr) f
• German: Treue (de) f, Lehnstreue f
• Hungarian: hűség (hu), hűbéresség
• Norwegian: troskap m
• Polish: wierność (pl) f
• Portuguese: fieldade (pt) f, fidelidade (pt), lealdade (pt)
• Russian: ве́рность (ru) f (vérnostʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: vazalska odanost f, vazalska vjernost f, vazalska vernost f
• Swedish: trohet (sv) c, huldhet (sv) c, tro (sv) c, länsplikt c

the oath by which this obligation was assumed

• Bulgarian: васална клетва (vasalna kletva)
• Danish: lensed c
• Dutch: eed van trouw
• French: serment (fr) m
• German: Lehnseid (de) m
• Hungarian: hűbéreskü (hu)
• Portuguese: fieldade (pt) f, juramento (pt)
• Serbo-Croatian: feudalna zakletva odanosti f
• Swedish: trohetsed (sv) c, tro och loven c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} fidélité (fr) f
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} troskapsed m (2)

Anagrams

• featly