Etymologically
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loyal

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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

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)