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loyal - 3 dictionary results

loy⋅al

  [loi-uhl]
Use loyal in a Sentence
–adjective
1. faithful to one's sovereign, government, or state: a loyal subject.
2. faithful to one's oath, commitments, or obligations: to be loyal to a vow.
3. faithful to any leader, party, or cause, or to any person or thing conceived as deserving fidelity: a loyal friend.
4. characterized by or showing faithfulness to commitments, vows, allegiance, obligations, etc.: loyal conduct.
Origin:
1525–35; < MF, OF loial, le(i)al < L lēgālis legal

Related forms:
loy⋅al⋅ly, adverb
loy⋅al⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. patriotic. 2. See faithful.

Antonyms:
1. faithless, treacherous.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To loyal
loy·al   (loi'əl)   
adj.  
  1. Steadfast in allegiance to one's homeland, government, or sovereign.
  2. Faithful to a person, ideal, custom, cause, or duty.
  3. Of, relating to, or marked by loyalty. See Synonyms at faithful.

[French, from Old French leial, loial, from Latin lēgālis, legal, from lēx, lēg-, law; see leg- in Indo-European roots.]
loy'al·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Loyal

Loy"al\, a. [F. loyal, OF. loial, leial, L. legalis, fr. lex, legis, law. See Legal, and cf. Leal.]

1. Faithful to law; upholding the lawful authority; faithful and true to the lawful government; faithful to the prince or sovereign to whom one is subject; unswerving in allegiance.

Welcome, sir John ! But why come you in arms ? - To help King Edward in his time of storm, As every loyal subject ought to do. --Shak.

2. True to any person or persons to whom one owes fidelity, especially as a wife to her husband, lovers to each other, and friend to friend; constant; faithful to a cause or a principle.

Your true and loyal wife. --Shak.

Unhappy both, but loyaltheir loves. --Dryden.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : loyal
Spanish: leal,
German: treu,
Japanese: 忠実な
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