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 War Committee is composed of engineer and staff-officers, of which the principal are Meussuer, Favart, St. Fief, d'Arcon, Lafitte-Clav� and a few others.

From The French Revolution - Volume 3 by Durand, John

The Fief of the Récollets—or Franciscan Friars—the order being extinct, reverted to the Crown.

From Picturesque Quebec : a sequel to Quebec past and present by Le Moine, J. M. (James MacPherson), Sir

The Emperor Charles V. oppos'd this Transaction, by pretending that Prussia was a Fief of the Empire; and that therefore Sigismond had no Right to dispose of it.

From The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume III Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from Prussia thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, England, &C. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several Courts. by P?llnitz, Karl Ludwig von

The Heirs LaRue own the Fief de Bécancour and that of de Villeraie; there is also the Fief Tasseville.

From Picturesque Quebec : a sequel to Quebec past and present by Le Moine, J. M. (James MacPherson), Sir

Later on this point received the name of Puiseaux, from the first owner of the Fief St. Michael, bounded by it to the southwest.

From Picturesque Quebec : a sequel to Quebec past and present by Le Moine, J. M. (James MacPherson), Sir