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fidèle

Etymology and origin of the French word fidèle

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
end of the 10th century, Passion de Clermont
Ultimate origin
Latin (fīdō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /fi.dɛl/[1]

Forms

fidèle (plural fidèles)[1] Old French fidel, fedel, fedeil; the learned fidèle from 1533.[2][3] In the 17th and 18th centuries it was also written fidelle.[4]

Etymology

It is a learned remodelling (1533) of Old French fidel, fedeil, forms that came from Latin fidēlis (“trustworthy, loyal; firm”).[2][3][5] Wiktionary describes it as a borrowing from Latin that replaced the inherited Old French forms, which survive in féal.[1][4] The Latin adjective is derived from fidēs (“faith, trust”), the source of foi, itself from fīdō (“to trust”).[2][3] In Medieval Latin it also meant “believer”.[2]

Bloch and Wartburg note that the popular Old French forms seem to have been less used than the forms of that word, with which they finally merged.[6] Cognate with Old Occitan fizel, Catalan fidel, Spanish fiel and Italian fedele.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Passion de Clermont (end of the 10th century) fidels are those bound to Christ, the faithful whom he feeds with bread and wine.[8][2]

Semantic evolution

As a noun it named a person bound to a Church by faith; as an adjective it described what shows loyalty, fedeilz servises in the Chanson de Roland, and a loyal, sincere person (1119).[8][2] It came to mean constant in one's feelings, especially in love (1651, Corneille), true to the facts (1670), and, in the classical period, honest, of a servant (1673).[2][8]

From loyalty it passed to accuracy (1584): mémoire fidèle (1690), a faithful translation (1773), and in the 20th century a measuring instrument whose readings are not distorted.[2][9] The noun fidélité was taken up again from Latin in the 13th century, replacing Old French feelted.[2]

Timeline

  • End of the 10th century – The noun in the Passion de Clermont.[8]
  • c. 1100 – Fedeilz servises in the Chanson de Roland.[8]
  • 1119 – Philippe de Thaon: loyal, trustworthy.[8]
  • 1533 – The learned form fidèle.[2][3]
  • 1536 – Calvin: les fidèles, the faithful.[8]
  • 1651 – Corneille: constant in one's attachments.[8]
  • 1773 – D'Alembert: of a faithful translation.[9]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Loyal to someone, true to one's commitments: rester fidèle à quelqu'un, un serviteur fidèle.[10][1]
  2. Constant in one's affections: un ami fidèle, un chien fidèle; of a customer, regular.[10]
  3. Faithful in love, having no other partner.[10][1]
  4. Fidèle à: true to (one's word, principles, habits).[10][8]
  5. Accurate, true to reality or to an original: une traduction fidèle, une mémoire fidèle.[10][3]

Noun

  1. A believer, a member of a religion, les fidèles, the congregation.[1][10]

Word family

  • fidèlement
  • fidéliser
  • fidélité

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 502b
  6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Fidèle.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/fid%C3%A8le. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·