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Origin and history of fealty

fealty(n.)

c. 1300, feaute, from Old French feauté, earlier fealte, "loyalty, fidelity; homage sworn by a vassal to his overlord; faithfulness," from Latin fidelitatem (nominative fidelitas) "faithfulness, fidelity," from fidelis "loyal, faithful" (from PIE root *bheidh- "to trust, confide, persuade").

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to fealty

*bheidh-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to trust, confide, persuade."

It might form all or part of: abide; abode; affiance; affidavit; auto-da-fe; bide; bona fide; confederate; confidant; confide; confidence; confident; defiance; defy; diffidence; diffident; faith; fealty; federal; federate; federation; fiancee; fideism; fidelity; fiducial; fiduciary; infidel; infidelity; nullifidian; perfidy; solifidian.

It might also be the source of: Greek pistis "faith, confidence, honesty;" Latin fides "trust, faith, confidence, reliance, credence, belief;" Albanian be "oath," bindem "to be convinced, believe;" Old Church Slavonic beda "distress, necessity," bediti "to force, persuade;" Old English biddan "to ask, beg, pray," German bitten "to ask."

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    Trends of fealty

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    allegiance
    "ties or obligations of a citizen or subject to a government or sovereign," late 14c., alligeaunce, formed in English from Anglo-French legaunce "loyalty of a liege-man to his lord," from Old French legeance, from liege (see liege (adj.)). Corrupted in spelling by confusion with
    vassal
    (c. 1200 as a surname) "tenant who pledges fealty to a lord," from Old French vassal "subject, subordinate, servant" (12c...
    overlord
    late 12c., "a feudal superior, ruler possessing the fealty of other rulers," from over- + lord (n.)....
    devotion
    In ancient Latin, "act of consecrating by a vow," also "loyalty, fealty, allegiance;" in Church Latin, "devotion to God,...
    loyalty
    c. 1400, from Old French loialte, leaute "loyalty, fidelity; legitimacy; honesty; good quality" (Modern French loyauté), from loial (see loyal). The Medieval Latin word was legalitas. The earlier Middle English form was leaute (mid-13c.), from the older French form. Loyalty oath
    avatar
    1784, "descent of a Hindu deity to earth in an incarnate or tangible form," from Sanskrit avatarana "descent" (of a deity to the earth in incarnate form), from ava- "off, down" (from PIE root *au- (2) "off, away") + base of tarati "(he) crosses over" (from PIE root *tere- (2) "cr
    myriad
    1550s, "the number of 10,000," also "an indefinitely great number," from French myriade and directly from Late Latin myrias (genitive myriadis) "ten thousand," from Greek myrias (genitive myriados) "a number of ten thousand; countless numbers," from myrios (plural myrioi) "innume
    wench
    late 13c., wenche "girl, young woman," especially if unmarried, also "female infant," shortened from wenchel "child," also in Middle English "girl, maiden," from Old English wencel, probably related to wancol "unsteady, fickle, weak," from Proto-Germanic *wankila- (source also of
    merry
    Middle English mirie, from Old English myrge "pleasing, agreeable, pleasant, sweet, exciting feelings of enjoyment and gladness" (said of grass, trees, the world, music, song); also as an adverb, "pleasantly, melodiously," from Proto-Germanic *murgijaz, which probably originally
    chimera
    fabulous monster of Greek mythology, slain by Bellerophon, late 14c., from Old French chimere or directly from Medieval Latin chimera, from Latin Chimaera, from Greek khimaira, name of a mythical fire-breathing creature (slain by Bellerophon) with a lion's head, a goat's body, an

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    Dictionary entries near fealty
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