Etymology

fealty

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Today it means: Fidelity to one's lord or master; the feudal obligation by which the tenant or vassal was bound to be faithful to his lord. Full definition →

Middle English feaute ← Anglo-Norman fëauté ← Latin fidēlitās
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromfidēlitās
  2. Anglo-Norman · derived fromfëauté
  3. Middle English · inherited fromfeaute
  4. English todayfealty

Inherited from Middle English feaute, feute, from Anglo-Norman fëauté, fëuté, from Latin fidēlitās (“faithfulness”; “homage, fealty” in Medieval Latin), from fidēlis (“faithful”) + -tās (noun suffix); the modern form (for expected *feauty /ˈfjuːti/) is due to learned influence. Equivalent to obsolete feal + -ty. Doublet of fidelity.

Words from the same roots

Latinfidēlitās all →

fidelity

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.