loyal

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈlɔɪəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French loyal (“faithful”), from Old French loial, leial, leal,^[2][3][4] from Latin lēgālis (“legal, of the law”), from lex (“law”) (genitive lēgis).^[2][3][5] It is a doublet of legal, which keeps the Latin form.^[2][3] It replaced Middle English lel, later leal.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Faithful in allegiance to a ruler or government: 1531, in Elyot's The Boke Named the Governour;^[2][6] the 1530s in Etymonline.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Old French leal meant of good quality, faithful, honourable, law-abiding and born in wedlock.^[3] Faithful to duty or love generally is from 1604,^[6] and of things and actions, showing loyalty, from 1598.^[6] Of money, genuine or legally current, is a 17th-century sense (1605).^[6] In Weardale dialect, loyal meant free in giving.^[7]

Timeline

• 1531 – faithful to the sovereign.^[2][6]
• 1598 – of actions, showing loyalty.^[6]
• 1604 – faithful to obligations.^[6]
• 1605 – of money, genuine (obsolete).^[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Steadfast in allegiance to a person, group or cause; faithful.
2. Faithful to a government or sovereign.
3. Showing loyalty: loyal service.

Noun

1. A loyal person, especially a supporter of the government.

Word family

• loyally
• loyalness
• nonloyal
• overloyal
• superloyal
• unloyal
• loyalist

Related words

• loyalty
• legal
• leal
• law
• royal

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)