fealty

/ˈfi(ə)lti/

/ˈfilti/

Other forms: fealties

The noun fealty is another way of saying "loyalty" or "faithfulness." Your sister will allow you to join the secret club meetings in her treehouse only if you first promise fealty to the other members.

Some school kids pledge their fealty, or allegiance, to the United States of America every morning in homeroom. But if you think fealty sounds like a word King Arthur would use, you're right: It's really an outdated term that primarily describes a vassal's sworn allegiance to a feudal lord. Fealty, like the word fidelity derives from the Latin root "fidelitas."

Definitions of fealty

1. noun

   the loyalty that citizens owe to their country (or subjects to their sovereign)
   synonyms: allegiance

   type of:

   loyalty, trueness

   the quality of being loyal