Loyalty
5 dictionary results for: Loyalty
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
loy·al·ty 
[loi-uhl-tee] Pronunciation Key
[loi-uhl-tee] Pronunciation Key –noun, plural -ties.
| 1. | the state or quality of being loyal; faithfulness to commitments or obligations. |
| 2. | faithful adherence to a sovereign, government, leader, cause, etc. |
| 3. | an example or instance of faithfulness, adherence, or the like: a man with fierce loyalties. |
—Synonyms 2. fealty, devotion, constancy. Loyalty, allegiance, fidelity all imply a sense of duty or of devoted attachment to something or someone. Loyalty connotes sentiment and the feeling of devotion that one holds for one's country, creed, family, friends, etc. Allegiance applies particularly to a citizen's duty to his or her country, or, by extension, one's obligation to support a party, cause, leader, etc. Fidelity implies unwavering devotion and allegiance to a person, principle, etc.
—Antonyms 1, 2. faithlessness.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| loy·al·ty
(loi'əl-tē) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. loy·al·ties
|
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
loyalty
loyalty
c.1400, from O.Fr. loyalté (Fr. loyauté), from O.Fr. loial, from L. legalis "legal," from lex (gen. legis "law"). Replaced Anglo-Norm. leal (q.v.), from the same L. source. Sense development in Eng. is feudal, via notion of "faithful in carrying out legal obligations." Loyalty oath first attested 1952.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| loyalty | |
noun | |
| 1. | the quality of being loyal [ant: disloyalty] |
| 2. | feelings of allegiance |
| 3. | the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action; "his long commitment to public service"; "they felt no loyalty to a losing team" [syn: commitment] |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Loyalty
Al*le"giance\, n. [OE. alegeaunce; pref. a- + OF. lige, liege. The meaning was influenced by L. ligare to bind, and even by lex, legis, law. See Liege, Ligeance.]1. The tie or obligation, implied or expressed, which a subject owes to his sovereign or government; the duty of fidelity to one's king, government, or state. 2. Devotion; loyalty; as, allegiance to science. Syn: Loyalty; fealty. Usage: Allegiance, Loyalty. These words agree in expressing the general idea of fidelity and attachment to the "powers that be." Allegiance is an obligation to a ruling power. Loyalty is a feeling or sentiment towards such power. Allegiance may exist under any form of government, and, in a republic, we generally speak of allegiance to the government, to the state, etc. In well conducted monarchies, loyalty is a warm-hearted feeling of fidelity and obedience to the sovereign. It is personal in its nature; and hence we speak of the loyalty of a wife to her husband, not of her allegiance. In cases where we personify, loyalty is more commonly the word used; as, loyalty to the constitution; loyalty to the cause of virtue; loyalty to truth and religion, etc. Hear me, recreant, on thine allegiance hear me! --Shak. So spake the Seraph Abdiel, faithful found, . . . Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified, His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal. --Milton.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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