fidelity

noun fi·del·i·ty \ fə-ˈde-lə-tē , fī- \

Updated on: 19 May 2018

Definition of fidelity

plural fidelities

1 a : the quality or state of being faithful

his fidelity to his wife

b : 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)

See fidelity defined for English-language learners

See fidelity defined for kids

fidelity was our Word of the Day on 06/30/2017. Hear the podcast!

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

Google's family of home devices already includes both a small speaker and a high-fidelity one to complement the original, but none of them have a screen.

— michael simon, PCWorld, "Google I/O 2018: 5 things we're likely to see (and 5 things we really want)," 7 May 2018
Her Norma remains resolutely stately and regal, whether leading her people in prayer, pledging fidelity to Adalgisa or seriously contemplating murdering her own children to strike at her unfaithful lover Pollione.

— eric skelly, Houston Chronicle, "Review: HGO’s ‘Norma’ is grand, but lead can’t ‘Let It Go’," 1 May 2018
But for longtime Trump loyalists, their fidelity to the president is often sufficient, obscuring what in a more traditional administration would be red flags.

— cliff pinckard, cleveland.com, "Guns banned from NRA event with Mike Pence: A.M. News Links," 30 Apr. 2018
But for longtime Trump loyalists, their fidelity to the president is often sufficient, obscuring what in a more traditional administration would be red flags.

— chicagotribune.com, "Trump's loyalty tests cause hiring headaches," 29 Apr. 2018
These real-word experiments also preserve data for high-fidelity simulations.

— joe pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, "What Happens to a Cruise Missile Captured by the Russians," 26 Apr. 2018
Trump proved that there was a market for an outsider who spoke bluntly against the system and prioritized reform over fidelity to conservatism.

— dylan scott, Vox, "Trump just waded into Ohio’s very high-stakes, under-the-radar Senate race," 24 Apr. 2018
No one, however, argued about the book’s fidelity to the reckless, riotous life lived in certain (white, well-favored) circles on Planet Gay.

— New York Times, "How the Early ’80s Changed Gay Writing Forever," 16 Apr. 2018
The Klarsfelds are reluctant memoirists, Serge explains, but their fidelity to accuracy and their humility regarding monumental triumphs of justice serve as urgent messages to us all.

— elizabeth rosner, San Francisco Chronicle, "‘Hunting the Truth: Memoirs of Beate and Serge Klarsfeld’," 5 Apr. 2018

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

fidelity Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of fidelity

fidelity, allegiance, fealty, loyalty, devotion, piety mean faithfulness to something to which one is bound by pledge or duty. fidelity implies strict and continuing faithfulness to an obligation, trust, or duty.

- marital fidelity

allegiance suggests an adherence like that of citizens to their country.

- pledging allegiance

fealty implies a fidelity acknowledged by the individual and as compelling as a sworn vow.

- fealty to the truth

loyalty implies a faithfulness that is steadfast in the face of any temptation to renounce, desert, or betray.

- valued the loyalty of his friends

devotion stresses zeal and service amounting to self-dedication.

- a painter's devotion to her art

piety stresses fidelity to obligations regarded as natural and fundamental.

- filial piety

Other Audio Recording Terms

baffle, dub, transcription, treble

FIDELITY Defined for English Language Learners

fidelity

noun

Definition of fidelity for English Language Learners

: the quality of being faithful to your husband, wife, or sexual partner
: the quality of being faithful or loyal to a country, organization, etc.
: the degree to which something matches or copies something else

FIDELITY Defined for Kids

fidelity

noun fi·del·i·ty \ fə-ˈde-lə-tē , fī- \

Definition of fidelity for Students

1 : loyalty

They swore fidelity to the king.

2 : accuracy

I described the scene with fidelity.

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

noun fi·del·i·ty \ fə-ˈde-lə-tē, fī- \

legal 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