Definition of fidelity
fidelities
1a : the quality or state of being faithful his fidelity to his wifeb : accuracy in details : exactness The movie's director insisted on total fidelity to the book.
2 : the degree to which an electronic device (such as a record player, radio, or television) accurately reproduces its effect (such as sound or picture)
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Examples of fidelity in a Sentence
Yet as Reardon emphasizes early on, fidelity to facts was never the point. The same dinner with friends could appear over and over in Fisher's published work, rejiggered each time to make a different point. —Laura Shapiro, New York Times Book Review, 12 Dec. 2004
It is a world familiar to all children, and it is this fidelity to child life that gives resonance to Hoffmann's tale and makes it an extraordinary work of art. —Maurice Sendak, Caldecott & Co., 1988
Chaucer's patient Griselda proved her fidelity to her husband by resisting the prodigious reasons he gave her for being unfaithful. —B. F. Skinner, Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971
music with much higher fidelity than on cassettes
they have never wavered in their fidelity to the cause of freedom
Recent Examples of fidelity from the Web
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The letter is imbued with Christian fidelity and the pain of being separated from his children.
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Garrel’s Lover is the last in a trilogy exploring love, lust and fidelity, while Denis’ Sunshine stars Juliette Binoche as a emotionally confused 50-something divorcee.
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Visconti’s attention to location and fidelity to Camus’s text accentuate the story’s peculiarities.
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When translation fidelity is critical, MT requires a human translator to clean up after it.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fidelity'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Have a Little Faith in Fidelity
You can have faith in "fidelity," which has existed in English since the 15th century; its etymological path winds back through Middle English and Middle French, eventually arriving at the Latin verb fidere, meaning "to trust." "Fidere" is also an ancestor of other English words associated with trust or faith, such as "fiduciary" (which means "of, relating to, or involving a confidence or trust" and is often used in the context of a monetary trust) and "confide" (meaning "to trust" or "to show trust by imparting secrets"). Nowadays "fidelity" is often used in reference to recording and broadcast devices, conveying the idea that a broadcast or recording is "faithful" to the live sound or picture that it reproduces.
Origin and Etymology of fidelity
Middle English fidelite, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French fidelité, from Latin fidelitat-, fidelitas, from fidelis faithful, from fides faith, from fidere to trust — more at bide
First Known Use: 15th century
Synonym Discussion of fidelity
Other Audio Recording Terms
FIDELITY Defined for English Language Learners
fidelity
playDefinition of fidelity for English Language Learners
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: the quality of being faithful to your husband, wife, or sexual partner
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: the quality of being faithful or loyal to a country, organization, etc.
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: the degree to which something matches or copies something else
FIDELITY Defined for Kids
Word Root of fidelity
The Latin word fidēs, meaning “faith,” gives us the root fid. Words from the Latin fidēs have something to with being faithful. Fidelity is faith or loyalty. To confide in someone is to show trust in the person by telling her or him a secret. Someone who is confident has faith that he or she will do something correctly and successfully.
Law Dictionary
fidelity
playLegal Definition of fidelity
: the quality or state of being faithful or loyal; especially : loyalty to one's spouse in refraining from adultery and sometimes in submitting to a spouse's reasonable sexual desires
Learn More about fidelity
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Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for fidelity Spanish Central: Translation of fidelity Nglish: Translation of fidelity for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of fidelity for Arabic speakers
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