fid

[ fid ]

/ fɪd /

noun Nautical.

a stout bar of wood or metal placed across a lower spar so as to support a higher one.

a stout bar used to hold a running bowsprit in its extended position.

a wooden or metal pin for parting strands of a rope.

a bar or pin used as a key or toggle.

Nearby words

Origin of fid

First recorded in 1605–15; origin uncertain

Definition for fid (2 of 3)

fid.

fiduciary.

Definition for fid (3 of 3)

-fid

a combining form meaning “divided,” “lobed,” occurring in adjectives borrowed from Latin (bifid); on this model, used in the formation of compound words (pinnatifid).

Origin of -fid

< Latin -fidus divided, equivalent to -fid- (variant stem of findere to split) + -us adj. suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for fid

He accordingly shut the great doors, and put the fid into the staple.
Rollo's Philosophy. [Air]|Jacob Abbott
He soon began to bark like Fid, and to growl like Bronti; to cackle like the hens, and to imitate every loud noise that he heard.
Kindness to Animals|Charlotte Elizabeth
Fid immediately handed a brace of pistols and a dirk to True Blue, and together they rushed aft.
True Blue|W.H.G. Kingston
Fid was the chief quizzer; but he had got several others to join him in making a butt of Gregory.
True Blue|W.H.G. Kingston

Fid insisted that his great fear of being shot made him dread less the idea of drowning.
True Blue|W.H.G. Kingston

British Dictionary definitions for fid (1 of 2)

fid

/ (fɪd) /

noun nautical

a spike for separating strands of rope in splicing

a wooden or metal bar for supporting the heel of a topmast

Word Origin for fid

C17: of unknown origin

British Dictionary definitions for fid (2 of 2)

-fid

adj combining form

divided into parts or lobesbifid; pinnatifid

Word Origin for -fid

from Latin -fidus, from findere to split

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fid

-fid

word-forming element meaning "split, divided into parts," from Latin -fidus, related to findere "to split" (see fissure).