fee definition - Dictionary

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fee [ fee ] (plural fees)

noun

Definition:

1. payment for services: a payment for professional services

2. charge made by institution: a charge made by an institution, e.g. for membership, entrance, or the administering of an examination

3. right to ownership of land: a right to land that can be passed on by inheritance

4. history
Same as fief (sense 1)

[14th century. Via Anglo-Norman variant of Old French feu< medieval Latin feudum (see feud²)]

Word History


	Fee and its close relatives feudal and fief take us back to the beginnings of European feudal society, when the ownership of cattle symbolized wealth. The Indo-European source of fee, denoting "livestock," is also the source of the German word Vieh "cattle."

Word Key: Synonyms