disloyal

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French desloial, also desleal, modern French déloyal,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} formed from des- (“not, opposite of”), from Latin dis-,^[3][7] and loial (“faithful, honourable, law-abiding”), the source of loyal,^[3][2] from Latin lēgālis, from lēx (“law”).^[3] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate gives the immediate source as Anglo-Norman desleial, also desloial, and Merriam-Webster Unabridged as Middle French desloial.^[8][9] The Anglo-Norman adjective desleal is recorded from about 1136–65, for "faithless, untrustworthy, treacherous" and also "unbelieving" and "unlawful".^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Unfaithful to the obligations of friendship or honour, or to the marriage tie: 1477, in Caxton's translation of Le Fèvre's History of Jason.^[2] Etymonline finds the adjective implied in the adverb disloyally from the early 15th century;^[3] the MED quotes disloyally, "treasonably", from a letter of 1417 in a copy of about 1600.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The personal sense came first: the OED calls it common in early use and now somewhat rare,^[2] and the Shorter Oxford illustrates it from Shakespeare's Richard II, "Thou dost suspect That I have been disloyal to thy bed".^[4] The political sense, untrue to one's allegiance or to constituted authority, is recorded from 1585 and became the main one.^[2][3] Johnson (1755) put it first, quoting Milton, and called the senses "dishonest", "not true to the marriage-bed" and "false in love" obsolete.^[12] Etymonline, in contrast to the OED, calls the sense of being untrue to a lover, spouse or friend rare and dates it to the late 15th century.^[3] A noun, "a disloyal person, a traitor", is recorded from 1611 to 1651.^[2][4] Oxford's modern definition extends the word to remarks and thoughts that show a lack of loyalty.^[6]

Timeline

• 1417 – implied in the adverb disloyally, treasonably, in a later copy of a letter.^[11]
• 1477 – unfaithful to friendship, honour or the marriage tie.^[2]
• 1585 – untrue to one's allegiance or to authority.^[2]
• 1611 – noun, a disloyal person, a traitor (obsolete by 1651).^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not loyal; failing in allegiance or obligation to a person, country, cause or organization: The minister was sacked for being disloyal to her party.^{[5][9][6][13]}
2. Unfaithful to vows or promises, especially in friendship or marriage.^[9][2][4]
3. Of a remark or thought, showing a lack of loyalty.^[6]

Word family

• disloyally
• disloyalist

Related words

• disloyalty
• loyal
• leal
• legal

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b c d Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins