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Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

A Way with Words, a radio show and podcast about language and linguistics.

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Is “fidel” a word? (or, What is the opposite of infidel?)
Rob
1
2007/12/11 – 12:50pm
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So I’m not sure what got me thinking about this … but here it is …

Fidelity means faithfulness or loyalty. Right?
Infidelity means the opposite, usually in the context of marriage or something similar.
Infidel is an untrue or disloyal person, usually in the context of religion.
So … it seems to me that the root of all these words is “fidel,” which isn’t exactly in common usage — not in English, anyway. Is “fidel” a word? Does it mean a faithful, loyal or truthful person?

Just wondering.

Guest
2
2007/12/11 – 6:25pm
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They do share a common source, but it isn’t “fidel.” See here.

Rob
3
2007/12/13 – 1:17pm
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So those all basically grow from the Latin “fides” (faith), but that doesn’t exactly answer the question, which is, does it make sense that “fidel” should be a natural English word for a faithful person? Just wondering why it never developed that way.

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