Word of the Day

: May 10, 2009

fidelity

noun fuh-DELL-uh-tee

What It Means

1 : the quality or state of being faithful

2 : accuracy

fidelity in Context

Jake's fidelity to his employer was severely tested when he received a tempting offer from another company.

Did You Know?

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.