Where does “fee” come from?

fee (West Frisian) comes from Dutch fee, 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 (West Frisian): livestock; fairy

Definitions

  1. livestock; fairy

Ancestry of “fee”, step by step

fee traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Dutch fee

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Dutchfeefairy
2Frenchféefairy, fay
3Old Frenchfae—
4LatinfātaFate; Moira; goddess who controls destiny; divine personification of fate
5Latinfātumdestiny, fate, lot
6Latinfātusspoken, said, told, foretold, related, predicted; having or had spoken, etc
7Latinfor"defective"; I speak, talk, say
8Proto-Italicfāōrspeak
9Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰéh₂tito speak, to be talking

via Old Frisian fia

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frisianfia—
2Proto-Germanicfehulivestock, cattle; property; name of the F-rune
3Proto-Indo-Europeanpéḱulivestock
4Proto-Indo-Europeanpeḱ-to pluck; livestock; wealth
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰéh₂ti →Every word from Proto-Italic fāōr →Every word from Latin for →