Where does “loyalty” come from?
Loyalty comes from Middle English loialte, derived from Old French loiauté, formed with the suffix -té from Old French loial (legal), which derives from Latin legalis, built from Latin lēg- (law) with the suffix -alis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European leǵ-.
loyalty (English): The state of being loyal; fidelity; Faithfulness...
Definitions
- The state of being loyal; fidelity; Faithfulness...
Ancestry of “loyalty”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | loialte | — |
| 2 | Old French | loialte | — |
| 3 | Old French | loial | loyal |
| 4 | Old French | leial | Alternative form of loial |
| 5 | Latin | lēgālis | legal |
| 6 | Latin | lēx | a proposition or motion for a law made to the people by a magistrate, a bill |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | lēg- | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | leǵ-s | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | leǵ- | to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to... |