fidelity

noun

fi·​del·​i·​ty fə-ˈde-lə-tē How to pronounce fidelity (audio)
fī-
plural fidelities
1
a
: the quality or state of being faithful
his fidelity to his wife
b
: accuracy in details : exactness
The movie's director insisted on total fidelity to the book.
2
: the degree to which an electronic device (such as a record player, radio, or television) accurately reproduces its effect (such as sound or picture)

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Have a Little Faith in Fidelity

Fidelity came to English by way of French in the 15th century, and can ultimately be traced back to the Latin fidēlis, meaning "faithful, loyal, trustworthy." While fidelity was originally exclusively about loyalty, it has for centuries also been used to refer to accuracy, as in “questions about the fidelity of the translation.” Nowadays fidelity is often used in reference to recording and broadcast devices, conveying the idea that a broadcast or recording is "faithful" to the live sound or picture that it reproduces.

Choose the Right Synonym for fidelity

fidelity, allegiance, fealty, loyalty, devotion, piety mean faithfulness to something to which one is bound by pledge or duty.

fidelity implies strict and continuing faithfulness to an obligation, trust, or duty.

marital fidelity

allegiance suggests an adherence like that of citizens to their country.

pledging allegiance

fealty implies a fidelity acknowledged by the individual and as compelling as a sworn vow.

fealty to the truth

loyalty implies a faithfulness that is steadfast in the face of any temptation to renounce, desert, or betray.

valued the loyalty of his friends

devotion stresses zeal and service amounting to self-dedication.

a painter's devotion to her art

piety stresses fidelity to obligations regarded as natural and fundamental.

filial piety

Examples of fidelity in a Sentence

Yet as Reardon emphasizes early on, fidelity to facts was never the point. The same dinner with friends could appear over and over in Fisher's published work, rejiggered each time to make a different point. Laura Shapiro, New York Times Book Review, 12 Dec. 2004
It is a world familiar to all children, and it is this fidelity to child life that gives resonance to Hoffmann's tale and makes it an extraordinary work of art. Maurice Sendak, Caldecott & Co., 1988
Chaucer's patient Griselda proved her fidelity to her husband by resisting the prodigious reasons he gave her for being unfaithful. B. F. Skinner, Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1971
music with much higher fidelity than on cassettes they have never wavered in their fidelity to the cause of freedom
Recent Examples on the Web Whatever your output, this monitor renders graphics, files, and more in 2560x1600 high-resolution fidelity with a 60Hz refresh rate for greater vibrancy. Stackcommerce Team, PCMAG, 17 Mar. 2024 Nvidia’s graphics-processing units, or GPUs, were previously known for increasing the visual fidelity of video games. Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 6 Mar. 2024 The play calls attention to the dangerous reality of right-wing terrorist groups expanding their ranks as once-fringe elements of our society are condoned by irresponsible political leaders, whose partisanship has undermined their fidelity to truth, democracy and the rule of law. Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2024 Soon, the scores began to decline, and there was no longer a system in place that checked schools’ fidelity to the teaching of reading. Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 15 Feb. 2024 Two close associates of the former president acknowledged to me that opinions in that community were sharply divided on the matter of Meadows’s fidelity. Robert Draper, New York Times, 8 Feb. 2024 The Quest 3 is close enough or better in visual fidelity, while also playing all Quest games and new mixed reality experiences. Mike Williams, wsj.com, 12 Dec. 2023 By selecting instances where later measurements showed no indication of errors, the fidelity of the initialization reached over 99.9 percent, well above the rate of success when individual hardware qubits are initialized (99.3 percent). John Timmer, Ars Technica, 6 Dec. 2023 Savvy searchers can find the vast majority of Grateful Dead shows in varying fidelity online. Eric Renner Brown, Billboard, 8 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fidelity.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English fidelite, borrowed from Middle French fidelité, borrowed from Latin fidēlitāt-, fidēlitās, from fidēlis "faithful, loyal, trustworthy" (from fidē-, stem of fidēs "trust, belief, faith" + -lis, denominal suffix of appurtenance) + -itāt-, -itās -ity — more at faith entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of fidelity was in the 15th century

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Dictionary Entries Near fidelity

Cite this Entry

“Fidelity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fidelity. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

fidelity

noun
fi·​del·​i·​ty fə-ˈdel-ət-ē How to pronounce fidelity (audio)
fī-
plural fidelities
1
a
: the quality or state of being faithful
b
: exactness in details
2
: the degree to which an electronic device (as a record player, radio, or television) correctly reproduces its effect (as sound or a picture)

Legal Definition

fidelity

noun
fi·​del·​i·​ty fə-ˈde-lə-tē, fī- How to pronounce fidelity (audio)
: the quality or state of being faithful or loyal
especially : loyalty to one's spouse in refraining from adultery and sometimes in submitting to a spouse's reasonable sexual desires

More from Merriam-Webster on fidelity

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