Adjacent Words

Loyal definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LOY'AL, a. [L. lex, law.]
Faithful to a prince or superior; true to plighted faith, duty or love; not treacherous; used of subjects to their prince, and of husband, wife and lovers; as a loyal subject; a loyal wife.
There Laodamia with Evadne moves, unhappy both! but loyal in their loves.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: steadfast in allegiance or duty; "loyal subjects"; "loyal friends stood by him" [ant: disloyal]
2: inspired by love for your country [syn: patriotic, loyal] [ant: disloyal, unpatriotic]
3: unwavering in devotion to friend or vow or cause; "a firm ally"; "loyal supporters"; "the true-hearted soldier...of Tippecanoe"- Campaign song for William Henry Harrison; "fast friends" [syn: firm, loyal, truehearted, fast]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle French, from Old French leial, leel, from Latin legalis legal Date: 1531 1. unswerving in allegiance: as a. faithful in allegiance to one's lawful sovereign or government b. faithful to a private person to whom fidelity is due c. faithful to a cause, ideal, custom, institution, or product 2. showing loyalty 3. obsolete lawful, legitimate Synonyms: see faithful • loyally adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 (often foll. by to) true or faithful (to duty, love, or obligation). 2 steadfast in allegiance; devoted to the legitimate sovereign or government of one's country. 3 showing loyalty. Phrases and idioms: loyal toast a toast to the sovereign. Derivatives: loyally adv. Etymology: F f. OF loial etc. f. L legalis LEGAL

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Loyal Loy"al, a. [F. loyal, OF. loial, leial, L. legalis, fr. lex, legis, law. See Legal, and cf. Leal.] 1. Faithful to law; upholding the lawful authority; faithful and true to the lawful government; faithful to the prince or sovereign to whom one is subject; unswerving in allegiance. Welcome, sir John ! But why come you in arms ? - To help King Edward in his time of storm, As every loyal subject ought to do. --Shak. 2. True to any person or persons to whom one owes fidelity, especially as a wife to her husband, lovers to each other, and friend to friend; constant; faithful to a cause or a principle. Your true and loyal wife. --Shak. Unhappy both, but loyaltheir loves. --Dryden.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Someone who is loyal remains firm in their friendship or support for a person or thing. They had remained loyal to the president... He'd always been such a loyal friend to us all. = faithful ? disloyal ADJ: oft ADJ to n [approval] • loyally They have loyally supported their party and their leader. ADV: ADV with v

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Faithful, true, devoted, constant.

Moby Thesaurus

abandoned, acquiescent, active, afire, ardent, assiduous, burning, committed, compliant, complying, conforming, conscientious, consistent, constant, continuing, dedicated, dependable, devoted, devout, diligent, dogged, duteous, dutiful, earnest, enduring, faithful, fervent, fervid, fiery, firm, fixed, flaming, flinty, hearty, heated, hot, hot-blooded, immovable, immutable, impassioned, in earnest, inalterable, indefatigable, indomitable, industrious, inflexible, insistent, intense, intent, intent on, invincible, lasting, law-abiding, liege, marble-constant, meticulous, mindful, never-tiring, obedient, observant, obstinate, on fire, passionate, patient, patient as Job, patriotic, perfervid, permanent, perseverant, persevering, persistent, persisting, pertinacious, plodding, plugging, practicing, preoccupied, punctilious, punctual, rapt, red-hot, regardful, relentless, reliable, resolute, scrupulous, sedulous, serious, set, settled, sincere, single-minded, sleepless, slogging, sot, spirited, stable, staunch, steadfast, steady, steely, stubborn, submissive, tenacious, tireless, true, true-blue, trusted, trustworthy, trusty, unabating, unbending, unconquerable, undaunted, undeflectable, undiscouraged, undrooping, unfailing, unfaltering, unflagging, unflappable, unflinching, unintermitting, uninterrupted, unnodding, unrelaxing, unrelenting, unremitting, unshaken, unsleeping, unswerving, untiring, unwavering, unwearied, unwearying, unwinking, unyielding, utterly attentive, vehement, warm, weariless, white-hot, willing, zealous