My Word of the Day

Friday July 30, 2010

fealty [FEE-uhl-tee]

noun

Fidelity to one's lord; the feudal obligation by which the tenant or vassal was bound to be faithful to his lord.
The oath by which the obligation to a lord was assumed.
Fidelity; constancy; faithfulness; allegiance.

From the stage he shouted out, "All my hipsters, all my nerds, all my losers, all my rebels." He called out specific Twitter users by their handles. It is easy to see how he's become a pied piper of sorts, cultivating his public on a granular level. And they reward him with fealty.

Jon Caramanica, "A Pied Piper of Rap, Followed on Twitter", New York Times, Jul 27, 2010
Still, even the best employers shouldn't count on much fealty in the end. The trend is inescapable: More and more, the labor force will find itself chock full of free agents, unabashedly looking for a better deal.

Rick Wartzman, "Young workers prize mobility over fidelity", Deseret News, Jul 18, 2010
The old man watched him for a moment, all the fealty of his many years of service in his gaze and attitude. "I do not like the look of things, Highness. What does it matter how good their hearts are if their brains are bad?"

George Gibbs The Vagrant Duke (1921)

Origin of the Word

Fealty, approximately 1300, derives from Old French feaute, from Latin fidelitas "fidelity," from fidelis "loyal, faithful," from fides "faith."