Fief definition
Under feudalism, heritable land held from a lord in return for service.
noun
The definition of a fief is something that someone has control over, particularly when a lord gives a person the ongoing use of land by a person and his heirs in return for that person giving allegiance to the lord.
An example of a fief is a legal practice the Middle Ages where society was built on relationships and classes.
An example of a fief is a piece of land that is entrusted to someone for their use and the use of their heirs.
noun
Something over which one has rights or exercises control.
noun
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A fiefdom.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun
Singular:
fief
Plural:
fiefsOrigin of fief
- French from Old French feu, fief fee
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- 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.
From Wiktionary