a. [ F. loyal, OF. loial, leial, L. legalis, fr. lex, legis, law. See Legal, and cf. Leal. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Your true and loyal wife. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Unhappy both, but loyaltheir loves. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A person who adheres to his sovereign or to the lawful authority; especially, one who maintains his allegiance to his prince or government, and defends his cause in times of revolt or revolution. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a loyal manner; faithfully. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Loyalty. [ R. ] Stow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. loyauté. See Loyal, and cf. Legality. ] The state or quality of being loyal; fidelity to a superior, or to duty, love, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

He had such loyalty to the king as the law required. Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Not withstanding all the subtle bait
With which those Amazons his love still craved,
To his one love his loyalty he saved. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ “Loyalty . . . expresses, properly, that fidelity which one owes according to law, and does not necessarily include that attachment to the royal person, which, happily, we in England have been able further to throw into the word.” Trench.

Syn. -- Allegiance; fealty. See Allegiance. [ 1913 Webster ]