feud

noun

The definition of a feud is a prolonged bitter disagreement or fight between families, family members or friends.

An example of a feud is parents not speaking to their daughter for many years because she married someone outside of the family's religion.

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"feud." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/feud>.

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feud. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/feud

feud

a bitter, protracted, and violent quarrel, esp. between clans or families, often characterized by killings and counterkillings
any dispute or rivalry, esp. when bitter or protracted

Origin of feud

Middle English fede from Old French faide from Frankish an unverified form faida, akin to Old High German fehida, enmity, revenge from Indo-European base an unverified form peik-, hostile from source foe, Lithuanian pìktas, angry

to carry on a feud; quarrel

land held from a feudal lord in return for service; fief

Origin of feud

Middle English from Medieval Latin feodum from Frankish an unverified form fehu- (akin to Old High German feho, cattle, property: see fee) + an unverified form od, an unverified form ot, wealth, akin to Old English ead

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MLA Style

"feud." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/feud>.

APA Style

feud. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/feud

feud

noun

A bitter, often prolonged quarrel or state of enmity, especially such a state of hostilities between two families or clans.

intransitive verb

feud·ed, feud·ing, feuds

To carry on or perpetuate a bitter quarrel or state of enmity.

Origin of feud

Alteration (probably influenced by feud ²) of Middle English fede from Old French faide of Germanic origin

noun

See fee.

Origin of feud

Medieval Latin feudum of Germanic origin ; see peku- in Indo-European roots.

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"feud." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/feud>.

APA Style

feud. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/feud

Noun

(plural feuds)

A state of long-standing mutual hostility.
You couldn't call it a feud exactly, but there had always been a chill between Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.
(professional wrestling slang) A staged rivalry between wrestlers.

Verb

(third-person singular simple present feuds, present participle feuding, simple past and past participle feuded)

(intransitive) To carry on a feud.
The two men began to feud after one of them got a job promotion and the other thought he was more qualified.

Origin

From Middle English fede, feide, *feithe, from Old English fǣhþ, fǣhþu, fǣhþo (“hostility, enmity, violence, revenge, vendetta”), from Proto-Germanic *faihiþō (“hatred, enmity”), from Proto-Indo-European *pAik-, *pAig- (“ill-meaning, wicked”), equivalent to foe +‎ -th. Cognate with Dutch veete (“feud”), German Fehde (“feud, vendetta”), Danish fejde (“feud, enmity, hostility, war”), Swedish fejd (“feud, controversy, quarrel, strife”), and Old French faide, feide (“feud”), ultimately from the same Germanic source. Related to foe, fiend.