fidelity

Noun

fidelity (countable and uncountable, plural fidelities)

1. (uncountable) Often followed by to or towards: faithfulness or loyalty towards a person, a group, one's civic or moral duties, etc.; allegiance; (countable) an instance of this.
   • the fidelity of the civil servants to their country
   • [T]hey ſerve thoſe that hire them, both vvith much courage and great Fidelity; but vvill not engage to ſerve for any determin'd time, and agree upon ſuch Terms, that the next day they may go over to the Enemies of thoſe vvhom they ſerve, if they offer them a greater pay: […]1684, Thomas More, “Of Their Military Discipline”, in [Gilbert Burnet], transl., Utopia: […], London: […] Richard Chiswell […], →OCLC, 2nd book, page 163

   Antonyms:

   infidelity

   1. Faithfulness or loyalty to one's partner or spouse, including restraint from romantic or sexual relationships with third parties.
      • In vvhat other houſe, public or private, can equal ſecurity be found for the fidelity of the married, for the chaſtity of the ſingle, and for the extinction of drunkenneſs, that murderous infatuation, in compariſon of vvhich every thing elſe that goes by the name of vice is virtue?1791, Jeremy Bentham, “§ 16. Provision for Liberated Prisoners.”, in Panopticon: Postscript; Part II: Containing a Plan of Management for a Panopticon Penitentiary-house, London: […] T[homas] Payne...
   2. (archaic) Faithfulness to God and one's religion.
      • Near-synonym: faith
      • Wake up from thy rest, thine abode is in Manu. / Let me be entrusted to the fidelity which is yielded to Osiris. / Come, O Râ, Tmu [Atum], be thou adored. Do thy will daily. Grant success in presence of the cycle of the mighty gods.1892, P[eter] le Page Renouf, “Book of the Dead [Chapter XV. Hymn II. (13)]”, in Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology, volume XIV (22nd Session), London: […] [Harrison and Sons for the...
2. (broadly) Accuracy, or exact correspondence, to some given fact or quality; exactness.
   • [Samuel Taylor] Coleridge and [Johann Wolfgang von] Goethe are the only critics who have expressed our convictions with any adequate fidelity: but there is in all cultivated minds a silent appreciation of his [Shakespeare's] superlative power and beauty, which, like Christianity, qualifies the...1850, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Shakspeare; or, The Poet”, in Representative Men: Seven Lectures, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson and Company, […], →OCLC, page 201
   • Some of the photographs and drawings, […] were first reproduced by Mr. Cooper on wood by means of photography, and then engraved: by this means almost complete fidelity is ensured.1872, Charles Darwin, “Introduction”, in The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 26

   Antonyms:

   infidelity

3. (broadly) The closeness of association between an organism and a plant community.
4. (broadly) Chiefly in high fidelity, low fidelity, etc.: the degree to which a system accurately reproduces an input such as an image or sound.
   • By placing them closer to the source, we can reduce the number of messages in the system and this in turn is likely to improve the fidelity of the system.2003, Proceedings of the Twenty-ninth International Conference on Very Large Databases, Berlin, Germany, 9-12 September, 2003, page 58
   • The isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase has a proofreading function that ensures the fidelity of the aminoacylation reaction, but the histidyl-tRNA synthetase lacks such a proofreading function.2008, David L. Nelson, Michael M. Cox, Absolute Ultimate Guide for Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry, →ISBN, page S-305
5. (countable, obsolete) In by one's fidelity, to break fidelity, to give fidelity, etc.: one's pledge or promise to act in good faith; an oath, a word of honour.
   • By my fidelity this is not vvell.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
6. (obsolete, uncountable) Of a person: honesty, trustworthiness; (countable) an instance of this.
   • [O]ure lord Jeſus hymſelfe dooth tetifye vnto vs that we receiue hys body and blood. Ought we to doubte of his fidelitie and testimony?1534 (date written), Thomas More, “A Treatice vpon the Passion of Chryste (Vnfinished) […]. The Second Lecture vpon the Blessed Sacrament.”, in Marye Basset [i.e., Mary Basset], transl., edited by...
   • [T]he Church by her publique reading of the booke of God preacheth only as a vvitneſſe. Novv the principall thing required in a vvitneſſe is fidelitie.1597, Richard Hooker, “Of Preaching by Reading Publiquely the Bookes of Holie Scripture; and Concerning Supposed Vntruthes in Those Translations of Scripture which We Allow to be Read; as also of the...