fief

Meaning

1. Land held of a superior, particularly on condition of homage, fealty, and personal service, especially military service.
2. Synonym of estate: any land, when considered as a region over which the owner exercises lordly control.
3. A territory, a domain, an area over which one exercises lordly control, particularly with regard to corporate or governmental bureaucracies.

Synonyms

feoff

feud

fiefdom

manor

feudatory

daimiate

feudal estate

ancestral lands

estate

votchina

esteem

honor

patrimony

realm

respect

Pronounced as (IPA)

/fiːf/

Etymology

From Middle French fief, from Old French fief, from Medieval Latin fevum, a variant of feudum (whence also Old French fieu, fied), from Old Frankish *fehu (“cattle, livestock”), from Proto-Germanic *fehu (“cattle, sheep”), from Proto-Indo-European *peku-, *peḱu- (“sheep”). Doublet of fee and feud.