fidelity

[ fi-del-i-tee, fahy- ]

noun

, plural fi·del·i·ties.

1. strict observance of promises, duties, etc.:

   a servant's fidelity.

2. loyalty:

   fidelity to one's country.

   Antonyms: disloyalty

3. conjugal faithfulness.
4. adherence to fact or detail.
5. accuracy; exactness:

   The speech was transcribed with great fidelity.

   Synonyms: rigor, faithfulness, precision

6. Audio, Video. the degree of accuracy with which sound or images are recorded or reproduced.

fidelity

/ fɪˈdɛlɪtɪ /

noun

1. devotion to duties, obligations, etc; faithfulness
2. loyalty or devotion, as to a person or cause
3. faithfulness to one's spouse, lover, etc
4. adherence to truth; accuracy in reporting detail
5. electronics the degree to which the output of a system, such as an amplifier or radio, accurately reproduces the characteristics of the input signal See also high fidelity

Other Words From

• nonfi·deli·ty noun
• unfi·deli·ty noun plural unfidelities

Word History and Origins

Origin of fidelity¹

First recorded in 1500–10; late Middle English fidelite (from Middle French ), from Latin fidēlitās, equivalent to fidēli- (stem of fidēlis “loyal,” equivalent to fidē(s) faith + -lis adjective suffix) + -tās -ty ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of fidelity¹

C15: from Latin fidēlitās , from fidēlis faithful, from fidēs faith, loyalty

Synonym Study

See loyalty.

Example Sentences

Companies including Blackrock, Fidelity and GrayScale, have also been buying up Bitcoins in their thousands, pushing up its value to record highs.

From BBC

"He's influenced by conspiracy theories on social media, and he has no fidelity to science and evidence."

From Salon

“He's influenced by conspiracy theories on social media, and he has no fidelity to science and evidence.”

From Salon

Musk and his co-investors paid $44 billion for Twitter; one recent accounting by Fidelity puts the company’s value at less than $10 billion.

From Slate

Truth has returned to its pre-enlightenment meaning; or, as Merriam-Webster puts it, its archaic meaning: “Fidelity, constancy.”

From Slate

Related Words

• faithfulness
• loyalty