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Webster 1913 Edition

Infidelity

Inˊfi-del′i-ty

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Infidelities
.
[L.
infidelitas
: cf. F.
infidélité
.]
1.
Lack of faith or belief in some religious system; especially, a lack of faith in, or disbelief of, the inspiration of the Scriptures, of the divine origin of Christianity.
There is, indeed, no doubt but that vanity is one of the principal causes of
infidelity
.
V. Knox.
2.
Unfaithfulness to the marriage vow or contract; violation of the marriage covenant by adultery.
3.
Breach of trust; unfaithfulness to a charge, or to moral obligation; treachery; deceit;
as, the
infidelity
of a servant
.
“The infidelity of friends.”
Sir W. Temple.

Webster 1828 Edition

Infidelity

INFIDEL'ITY

,
Noun.
[L. infidelitas.]
1.
In general, want of faith or belief; a withholding of credit.
2.
Disbelief of the inspiration of the Scriptures, or the divine original of christianity; unbelief.
There is no doubt that vanity is one principal cause of infidelity.
3.
Unfaithfulness, particularly in married persons; a violation of the marriage covenant by adultery or lewdness.
4.
Breach of trust; treachery; deceit; as the infidelity of a friend or a servant. In this sense, unfaithfulness is most used.

Definition 2024

infidelity

infidelity

English

Noun

infidelity ‎(plural infidelities)

  1. Unfaithfulness in a marriage or an intimate relationship: practice or instance of having a sexual or romantic affair with someone other than one's spouse, without the consent of the spouse.
    • 2013, William G. Staples, Everyday Surveillance: Vigilance and Visibility (ISBN 1442226293), page 155:
      Your friends tell you rumors about your girlfriend's infidelity or you remember being broken up around the time the baby was conceived.
  2. Unfaithfulness in some other moral obligation.
    • 1937, Arnold Oskar Meyer, England in German opinion throughout the centuries, page 6:
      It was disastrous that England's infidelity towards Frederick the Great — which no one, not even a German, condemned more strongly than did William Pitt — had to affect one of the most popular heroes of our national history.
  3. Lack of religious belief.
    • Bishop Ward
      The means used to this purpose are partly didactical, and partly protreptical; demonstrating the truth of the gospel, and then urging the professors of those truths to be stedfast[sic] in the faith, and to beware of infidelity.

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Etymology

From Middle French infidélité, from Latin infidelitas

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