fidelity, n.
(fɪˈdɛlɪtɪ)
Forms: 5–6 fydelite, -itie, -itye, -yte, -ytie, 6–7 fidelitie, (6 fidelite), 6– fidelity.
[a. F. fidélité, ad. L. fidēlitāt-em, f. fidēlis faithful, f. fidēs faith.]
1. The quality of being faithful; faithfulness, loyalty, unswerving allegiance to a person, party, bond, etc. Const. to, towards.
| 1508 Barclay Shyp of Folys (1874) II. 92 Amonge these wasters is no fydelyte. 1520 Caxton's Chron. Eng. iii. 25/1 They kepte fydelyte to the Romayns. 1553 Q. Jane in Strype Eccl. Mem. III. App. ii. 4 Our special trust is in your..fidelities in this matter. 1659 Hammond On Ps. 520 Gods mercies..and fidelities to his people. 1683 Burnet tr. More's Utopia (1684) 163 They serve those that hire them..with..great Fidelity. 1791 Bentham Panopt. Wks. 1843 IV. 225 Fidelity to engagements is a virtue. 1839 Thirlwall Greece VI. 279 The conduct of Arsames raised Alexander's suspicions of his fidelity. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. viii. 90 A strict, stanch fidelity to the expedition. |
† b. to make fidelity: to take an oath of fealty.
| 1494 Fabyan Chron. vii. ccxxxviii. 277 That..Kynges of Scotlonde, shuld make theyr homage and fydelyte vnto the Kynges of Englonde. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. (1774) 79 Ane other fidelitie..sall be..made be the woman, and her heires, in the samine forme and words as homage should be made. Ibid. Table 80 He quha maries ane widow, sould make fidelity to the heire of hir first husband. |
c. Conjugal faithfulness.
| 1694 Acct. Sweden 70 Some of them are accounted more eminent for Chastity before Marriage, than Fidelity after. 1825 J. Neal Bro. Jonathan III. 227 If we are not barren, our fidelity is proved. |
† d. Word of honour, oath, pledge; also to give, break one's fidelity. by my fidelity: upon my word. Obs.
| 1531 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford 105 The benche dyd examen the foresayd [persons] uppon theyre fydelities. 1574 Whitgift Def. Aunsw. iii. Wks. 1851 I. 306 None is admitted to any degree..but the same is first presented..to the university, by some one..who giveth his fidelity for them. 1581 Marbeck Bk. of Notes 165 Pharao..was punished for breaking his fidelitie. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iv. ii. 160 By my fidelity this is not well. |
e. Ecol. The degree of association of a species with a plant community.
| 1932 Fuller & Conard tr. Braun-Blanquet's Plant Sociol. iv. 52 The more or less rigid ties by which the species are bound to certain communities—their fidelity. 1955 Jrnl. Ecol. XLIII. 232 Species which are of high fidelity regionally become less faithful in other regions and other different climatic conditions. 1967 M. E. Hale Biol. Lichens iv. 61 A large group of lichens..have high fidelity for limestone and other basic substrates. |
2. Strict conformity to truth or fact. † a. Of persons: Honesty, truthfulness, trustworthiness, veracity (obs.). b. Of a description, translation, etc.: Correspondence with the original; exactness.
| 1534 More On the Passion Wks. 1344/2 Ought we to doubte of his fidelitie and testimony? 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. §19. 29 The principall thing required in a witnesse is fidelitie. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. vi. §1 How then can the fidelity of a Prophet be discovered by the event? 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. I. xxi. 252 He trusting to their Fidelities, set them down as he received them. 1735 Pope Lett. 22 Jan. 1709 Be very free of your Remarks..in regard..to the Fidelity of the Translation. 1847 Emerson Repr. Men, Shaks. Wks. (Bohn) I. 359 The only critics who have expressed our convictions with any adequate fidelity. 1872 Darwin Emotions Introd. 26 By this means [photography on wood] almost complete fidelity is ensured. |
c. The degree to which a sound or picture reproduced or transmitted by any device resembles the original; esp. in high fidelity. Cf. hi-fi, lo-fi.
| 1878 G. B. Prescott Speaking Telephone i. 12 The apparatus..reproduces the original vibrations with perfect fidelity. 1896 Marconi Brit. Pat. 12,039 6 The space cannot..be excessively shortened without injuring the fidelity of the transmission. 1918 H. Seymour Reprod. Sound 269, I introduced baked carbon sheet for the purpose, with remarkable results as to strength and fidelity of tone. 1923 Sci. Amer. July 67/2 For..radio programs..you will..have an extremely sensitive sound converter..which is of an entirely different order of fidelity from that..of [other] microphonic devices. 1931 Electronics Oct. 137/1 We find that the same word—Fidelity—can be used both in connection with the excellence of sound reproduction and picture reproduction. 1935 Discovery Sept. 278/1 Fidelity of both picture and sound reproduction is good. 1958 Economist 26 July 270 The German industry also put its first complete fidelity recorder on to its domestic market in that year [sc. 1948]. |
3. fidelity insurance, insurance taken out by an employer to indemnify him against losses incurred through the dishonesty or non-performance of an employee. So fidelity bond, fidelity guarantee, such a bond or contract.
| 1880 Encycl. Brit. XIII. 161/2 Fidelity Guarantee. The guarantee of employers against the fraud or insolvency of their servants. 1930 Economist 26 Apr. 942/1 Its activities are confined to the transaction of fidelity guarantee insurance. 1970 Daily Tel. 28 Sept. 3 The insurance companies..will investigate the staff, checking with previous employers and so on. If their character is good they are given what is known as a fidelity bond. |