Fief

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fiːf/
• Rhymes: -iːf
• only in accents with w, Th-fronting, th-fronting Homophones: thief

Origin

From Old French fief (whence also fee), from Medieval Latin fevum, a variant of feudum, from Old Frankish *fehu ("cattle, livestock"), from Proto-Germanic *fehu ("cattle, sheep"), from Proto-Indo-European *peku-, *peḱu- ("sheep"). See fee for cognates.

Full definition of fief

Noun

1. An estate held of a superior on condition of military service.
2. Something over which one has rights or exercises control.
3. metaphor An area of dominion, especially in a corporate or governmental bureaucracy.

Synonyms

• manor

Derived terms

• fiefdom
• in fief

Related terms

• enfeoff
• fee
• feoff
• feoffee

Anagrams

• fife, Fife