English Explanatory Dictionary

fidelity

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Faithfulness to one's moral or civic duties.
  2. Loyalty to one's spouse or partner, including abstention from cheating or extramarital affairs.
  3. Accuracy, or exact correspondence to some given quality or fact.
  4. The degree to which a system accurately reproduces an input.
  5. Faithfulness to God and one's religion.

Pronunciation

/fɪˈdɛl.ɪ.ti/ /faɪˈdɛl.ɪ.ti/ /fᵻˈdɛlədi/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-fidelity.wav

Word forms

fidelity fidelities

Etymology

15th century, from Middle English [Term?], from Middle French fidélité, from Latin fidēlitās, from fidēlis (“faithful”), from fidēs (“faith, loyalty”) (English faith), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰidʰ-, zero-grade of *bʰeydʰ- (“to command, to persuade, to trust”) (English bide). Doublet of fealty.

Synonyms

allegiance faith

Antonyms

infidelity irreligion nullifidianism

Related words

affidavit bide faith

Derived words

biofidelity fidelitous fidelity bond fidelity card fidelity insurance high fidelity low fidelity multifidelity no fidelity polyfidelity wireless fidelity
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