fief

American  

[feef] / fif /

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.

3. fiefdom.

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fief British  

/ fiːf /

noun

1. (in feudal Europe) the property or fee granted to a vassal for his maintenance by his lord in return for service

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fief Cultural  

1. 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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Etymology

Origin of fief

1605–15; < French, variant of Old French fieu, fie, cognate with Anglo-French fe fee < Germanic; compare Old High German fihu, Old English feoh cattle, property; akin to Latin pecū flock of sheep, pecus cattle, pecūnia wealth

Explanation

Under the feudal system, a fief was a piece of land. This is short for fiefdom. Words that go along with fief are vassal and feudal lord; the lord (kind of like our landlords) owned the fief and the vassal was subject to all of his rules. If you were the lord of a fief, your tenant was your servant. If you were to work on someone's farm but were paid nothing, it would be like you were working a fief. The word is not used much these days — though people still don’t like landlords much.

Example Sentences

The move is an acknowledgment that bringing in an outsider to create a new AI fief at Apple ultimately failed the key test of success at Apple: delivering products that consumers want to buy.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 2, 2025

Disney arguably allowed Mr. Perlmutter to keep a fief long after it made financial sense to do so.

From New York Times • Mar. 29, 2023

Kadyrov, who rules Chechnya as a fief, would be unacceptable to the elite.

From Washington Post • Oct. 6, 2022

As the Tatmadaw began loosening control over the economy, engaging in a fire sale of assets that had once been the military’s fief, that elite class of the well-connected swooped in to profit.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 24, 2021

You must know, signore, that all the country east of Castiglione to the Tiber, and lying between the Nestore and Casale, is a fief of the Castellani, and the Count--ha! ha!

From The Honour of Savelli A Romance by Levett-Yeats, S. (Sidney)