faithful

English

Etymology

faith +‎ -ful

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈfeɪθ.fəl/, SAMPA: /"feIT.f@l/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

faithful (comparative more faithful, superlative most faithful)

1. loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause

   My dog is a very faithful dog.

2. having faith

   Some people are faithful to their god.

3. reliable; worthy of trust

   My servant is very faithful.

4. consistent with reality

   I would consider that a very faithful reproduction.

5. engaging in sexual relations only with one's spouse or long-term sexual partner

   They had been faithful to each other all of their married life.

Derived terms

• faithfully
• faithfulness

Translations

loyal; adhering firmly to person or cause

Chinese: Mandarin: 忠實 (zh), 忠实 (zh) (zhōngshí) Czech: věrný (cs) m. Dutch: getrouw (nl) Esperanto: fidela (eo) French: fidèle (fr), loyal (fr) German: treu (de) Hebrew: נאמן (he) (neeman) f. Ido: fidela (io)

Italian: fedele (it) Japanese: 忠実な (ja) (ちゅうじつな, chūjitsuna) Latin: firmus (la) Norwegian: trofast (no) Russian: верный (ru) (vérnyj), преданный (ru) (prédannyj) Scottish Gaelic: dìleas (gd) Serbian: веран (sr) (veran) m. Spanish: fiel (es), leal (es) Telugu: నమ్మకమైన (te) (nammakamaina)

having faith

Italian: fedele (it) Latin: fidelis (la)

Norwegian: troende (no) Russian: верующий (ru) (vérujuščij)

reliable; worthy of trust

Italian: affidabile (it) Norwegian: etterrettelig (no)

Russian: надёжный (ru) (hadjóžhyj), заслуживающий доверия (ru) (zaslúživajuščij dovérija)

consistent with reality

Czech: věrný (cs) m. Norwegian: tro (no)

Russian: верный (ru) (vérnyj), точный (ru) (tóčnyj)

See also

• go to the wall for someone
• stand by
• true

Noun

faithful (uncountable)

1. The practicing members of a religion or followers of a cause.

   The faithful pray five times a day.