Hypertext Webster Gateway: "fealty"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Fealty \Fe"al*ty\, n. [OE. faute, OF. faut['e], fealt['e],
feel['e], feelteit, fr. L. fidelitas, fr. fidelis faithful.
See {Feal}, and cf. Fidelity.]
1. Fidelity to one's lord; the feudal obligation by which the
tenant or vassal was bound to be faithful to his lord; the
special oath by which this obligation was assumed;
fidelity to a superior power, or to a government;
loyality. It is no longer the practice to exact the
performance of fealty, as a feudal obligation. --Wharton
(Law Dict. ). Tomlins.
2. Fidelity; constancy; faithfulness, as of a friend to a
friend, or of a wife to her husband.
He should maintain fealty to God. --I. Taylor.
Makes wicked lightnings of her eyes, and saps The
fealty of our friends. --tennyson.
Swore fealty to the new government. --Macaulay.
Note: Fealty is distinguished from homage, which is an
acknowledgment of tenure, while fealty implies an oath.
See {Homage}. --Wharton.
Syn: Homage; loyality; fidelity; constancy.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
fealty
n : the loyalty that citizens owe to their country (or subjects
to their sovereign) [syn: {allegiance}]
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