Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “fees” come from?

Fees derives from Middle English fe, Old English feoh meaning cattle or property, Proto-Germanic fehu, Latin fevum, Latin feudum, Frankish fehu, and Proto-Indo-European peḱ-.

fees (English): plural of fee; Third-person singular simple...

Definitions

  1. plural of fee; Third-person singular simple...

Ancestry of “fees”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishfeeA right to the use of a superior's land, as a...
2Middle EnglishfeeAlternative form of fey
3Old Frenchfieufief
4Medieval Latinfevumfief, fee
5LatinfeudumA fief, fee
6Frankishfehulivestock, cattle; cattle, owndom, property, fee;...
7Proto-Germanicfehulivestock, cattle; property; name of the F-rune
8Proto-Indo-Europeanpéḱulivestock
9Proto-Indo-Europeanpeḱ-to pluck; livestock; wealth
Every word from Proto-Indo-European peḱ- →