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fief

7 dictionary results for: fief

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

fief

[feef] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	a fee or feud held of a feudal lord; a tenure of land subject to feudal obligations.

2.	a territory held in fee.

fiefdom.

[Origin: 1605–15; < F, var. of OF fieu, fie, c. AF fe fee < Gmc; cf. OHG fihu, OE feoh cattle, property; akin to L pecū flock of sheep, pecus cattle, pecūnia wealth

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

fee (fē) Pronunciation Key
n.

A fixed sum charged, as by an institution or by law, for a privilege: a license fee; tuition fees.
A charge for professional services: a surgeon's fee.
A tip; a gratuity.
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

To give a tip to.
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."

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

fief (fēf) Pronunciation Key
n.

See fee.
A fiefdom.

[French, from Old French feu, fief; see fee.]

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
fief

1611, from Fr. fief, from O.Fr., a variant of fieu "fee" (see fee).

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

fief
noun
a piece of land held under the feudal system

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American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
fief [(feef)]

Under feudalism, a landed estate given by a lord to a vassal in return for the vassal's service to the lord. The vassal could use the fief as long as he remained loyal to the lord.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Fief

Fief\, n. [F. fief; of German origin, and the same word as E. fee. See Fee, and cf. Feud, a tief.] (Law) An estate held of a superior on condition of military service; a fee; a feud. See under Benefice, n., 2.

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