Loyalty

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈlɔɪəlti/

Definitions

1. A deep sense of faithfulness or allegiance toward a person or group
2. The quality of showing steady allegiance or support to a person, group, or cause
3. A strong commitment to remain devoted and reliable to someone or something

Etymology: Loyalty began as a word about law and lordship before it became a word about the heart. Its ancestor is the Old French "loial," meaning faithful or law-abiding, which itself came from Latin "legalis," "pertaining to the law." So a loyal person was, at root, one who kept the rules owed to a lord or sovereign. Middle English borrowed the noun as "loialte," and the modern spelling settled in later as English moved away from the French form. The word's meaning gradually widened. What began as obedience to a feudal superior or to the law later came to describe faithfulness to friends, family, causes, and principles. The core idea stayed the same throughout: a binding obligation that someone chooses to keep.

Synonyms: faithfulness, allegiance, devotion, fidelity, constancy

Antonyms: disloyalty, treachery, betrayal, unfaithfulness, infidelity