Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
feud - 8 dictionary results

feud

1  [fyood]
Use feud in a Sentence
–noun
1. Also called blood feud. a bitter, continuous hostility, esp. between two families, clans, etc., often lasting for many years or generations.
2. a bitter quarrel or contention: a feud between labor and management.
–verb (used without object)
3. to engage in a feud.
Origin:
1300–50; var. of fead (a misread as u), ME fede < MF fe(i)de < OHG fēhida; c. OE fǣhth enmity. See foe, -th 1

Synonyms:
2. argument, difference.

feud

2  [fyood]
–noun
fee (def. 4).
Origin:
1605–15; < ML feudum, var. of feodum. See fee
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To feud
fee   (fē)   
n.  
  1. A fixed sum charged, as by an institution or by law, for a privilege: a license fee; tuition fees.
  2. A charge for professional services: a surgeon's fee.
  3. A tip; a gratuity.
  4. Law An inherited or heritable estate in land.
    1. In feudal law, an estate in land granted by a lord to his vassal on condition of homage and service. Also called feud2, fief.
    2. The land so held.
tr.v.   feed, fee·ing, fees
  1. To give a tip to.
  2. Scots To hire.

[Middle English fe, from Old English feoh, cattle, goods, money, and from Anglo-Norman fee, fief (from Old French fie, fief, of Germanic origin; akin to Old English feoh); see peku- in Indo-European roots.]
Word History: It is possible to see the idea of money taking hold of the human mind by studying a few words that express the notion of wealth or goods. The word fee now denotes money paid or received for a service rendered. Fee comes from Old English feoh, which has three meanings, all equally ancient: "cattle, livestock"; "goods, possessions, movable property"; "money." The Germanic form behind the Old English is *fehu, which derives by Grimm's Law from Indo-European *peku-, "cattle." *Fehu is therefore a cognate of Latin pecu, "cattle," also a direct descendant of Indo-European *peku-. Latin pecu has several derivatives that ultimately were borrowed into English. One was pecūnia, "money," the source of our word pecuniary. Another was pecūliāris, "pertaining to one's pecūlium or property," the source of our word peculiar. Finally, our word peculator comes from yet a third derivative, pecūlātor, "embezzler of public money, peculator."
feud 1   (fyōōd)   
n.  A bitter, often prolonged quarrel or state of enmity, especially such a state of hostilities between two families or clans.
intr.v.   feud·ed, feud·ing, feuds
To carry on or perpetuate a bitter quarrel or state of enmity.

[Alteration (probably influenced by feud2) of Middle English fede, from Old French faide, of Germanic origin.]
feud 2   (fyōōd)   
n.  See fee.

[Medieval Latin feudum, of Germanic origin; see peku- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Feud

Feud\, n. [OE. feide, AS. f?h?, fr. f[=a]h hostile; akin to OHG. f?hida, G. fehde, Sw. fejd, D. feide; prob. akin to E. fiend. See Foe.]

1. A combination of kindred to avenge injuries or affronts, done or offered to any of their blood, on the offender and all his race.

2. A contention or quarrel; especially, an inveterate strife between families, clans, or parties; deadly hatred; contention satisfied only by bloodshed.

Mutual feuds and battles betwixt their several tribes and kindreds. --Purchas.

Syn: Affray; fray; broil; contest; dispute; strife.

Feud

Feud\, n. [LL. feudum, feodum prob. of same origin as E. fief. See Fief, Fee.] (Law) A stipendiary estate in land, held of superior, by service; the right which a vassal or tenant had to the lands or other immovable thing of his lord, to use the same and take the profists thereof hereditarily, rendering to his superior such duties and services as belong to military tenure, etc., the property of the soil always remaining in the lord or superior; a fief; a fee.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : feud
Spanish: enemistad,
German: die Fehde,
Japanese: 宿恨
More Translations »

feud 
c.1300, fede, northern Eng. and Scottish, from O.Fr. fede, from O.H.G. fehida "contention, quarrel, feud," from P.Gmc. *faihitha, noun of state from *faiho- (adj.), related to O.E. fæhð "enmity." The whole group is connected to modern Eng. foe (q.v.). Sense of "vendetta" is c.1425. Alteration of spelling in 16c. is unexplained.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see feud on Thesaurus | Reference