LOYALTY  ,

allegiance to the sovereign or established government of one's country, also personal devotion and reverence to the sovereign and royal family . The English word came into use in the early part of the 15th century in the sense of fidelity to one's oath, or in service, love, &c.; the later and now the ordinary sense appears in the 16th century . The O . Fr. loialte, mod. loyaute, is formed from loial, loyal, Scots leal, Lat. legalis, legal, from lex, law . This was used in the special feudal sense of one who has full legal rights, a legalis homo being opposed to the exlex, utlegates, or outlaw . Thence in the sense of faithful, it meant one who kept faithful allegiance to his feudal lord, and so loyal in the accepted use of the word .