Etymology Explorer › German

Where does “Fee” come from?

Fee (German) comes from Middle High German fei(n)e, from French fée, from Old French fae, from Latin fāta, from Latin fātum, from Latin fātus, from Latin for, from Proto-Italic fāōr — to speak, to be talking.

Fee (German): fairy

Definitions

  1. fairy

Ancestry of “Fee”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle High Germanfei(n)e—
2Frenchféefairy, fay
3Old Frenchfae—
4Latinfāta—
5Latinfātum—
6Latinfātus—
7Latinfor"defective"; I speak, talk, say
8Proto-Italicfāōrspeak
9Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰéh₂tito speak, to be talking

Words derived from “Fee”

  • фея
  • Zahnfee
  • feino
  • feo
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰéh₂ti →