▪ I. † fee, n.1 Obs.
Forms: 1 fioh, féo, 1—3 feoh, 3–4 feo, 3 south. veo, 2–3 feh, 2 Orm. fehh, 2–6 fe, (3 fæi, feih), 5–7 fie, (6 Sc. fye), 3–7 fee.
[Common Teut. and Aryan: OE. feoh, fioh, féo, str. neut., corresp. to OFris. fia, OS. fehu cattle, property (Du. vee cattle), OHG. fihu, fehu cattle, property, money (MHG. vihe, vehe, and mod.Ger. vieh has only the sense cattle), ON. fé cattle, property, money (Da. fæ cattle, beast, Sw. fä beast), Goth. faihu property, money:—OTeut. *fehu:—OAryan *péku-, whence also Skr. pa{cced}u masc., L. pecū neut. cattle (cf. L. pecūnia money).]
1. Live stock, cattle, whether large or small. wild fee: deer.
| c 900 K. ælfred Laws xlii, Gif þe becume oðres monnes ᵹiemeleas fioh on hand..ᵹecyðe hit him. a 1000 Salomon & Sat. 23 (Gr.) Feoh butan ᵹewitte. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 783 Ðo sente he after abram..And gaf him lond, and aȝte, and fe. a 1300 Cursor M. 1059 (Cott.) Þis abel was a hird for fee. 1375 Barbour Bruce x. 151 Ane That husband ves, and vith his fee Oftsis hay to the peill led he. c 1450 Henryson Mor. Fab. 80 The keiper of the fie For verie woe woxe wanner nor the weid. ? a 1500 True Thomas 67 in Jamieson Pop. Ballads II. 15, I ride after the wilde fee; My raches rennen at my devys. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 343 Distroyit war all bowis, flokis and fie. |
2. Movable property in general; goods, possessions, wealth.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xiv. §2 Þa unᵹesceadwisan neotena ne wilniaþ nanes oþres feos. c 1000 Ags. Ps. cviii. [cix.] 11 His feoh onfon fremde handa. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 109 Þe feorðe unþeu is þet þe riche mon..bihude his feh. c 1205 Lay. 4429 Þe king him ȝette..feoh & færde. c 1275 A Luue Ron 70 in O.E. Misc. (1872) 95 Cesar riche of wordes feo. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 418 He..bad he schuld cum him to help And he schuld haue half his fe. c 1460 Towneley Myst. 28 Do get in oure gere, oure catalle and fe, In to this vesselle here. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 1993 Alasse, where is nowe my golde and fe? 1596 Drayton Legends iv. 74 Whose labour'd Anvile only was His Fee. |
3. Money.
| Beowulf 1380 Ic þe þa fæhðe feo leaniᵹe. c 870 Codex Aureus 5 in O.E. Texts (1885) 175 Mid uncre claene feo. c 900 Bæda's Eccl. Hist. iii. xiv. [xix.] (1891) 216 Forðon ᵹif þu þisses monnes fea [pecunia] in his synnum deades ne onfenge, ne burne his wiite on þe. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. x. 9 Næbbe ᵹe gold ne seolfer ne feoh on eowrum bigyrdlum. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 91 Þa..salden heore ehte and þet feh bitahten þam apostles. c 1200 Ormin 15968 He selleþþ Haliȝ Gast forr fe. c 1205 Lay. 9176 He miðte æt-halden heore feoh þe Julius her fatte. a 1225 Ancr. R. 326 Vor sunne is þes deofles feih þet he ȝiueð to gauel. a 1300 Floriz & Bl. 25 Floriz ne let for ne feo To finden al þat neod beo. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. vii. viii. 754 Corrupte..wyth þe kyng of Inglandis Fe. 1677 Lovers Quarrel 30 in Hazl. E.E.P. II. 254 God give you good of your gold, she said, And ever God give you good of your fee. |
4. Comb. fee-house, (
a) in
OE., a treasury, (
b) a cattle-shed.
| c 1000 ælfric's Voc. Sup. in Wr.-Wülcker 184 Þrarium, feohhus. 1483 Cath. Angl. 125/1 A Feehouse, bostar. |
▪ II. fee, n.2 (
fiː)
Forms: 4–5
fe,
feo,
fey, 6
fie, 3–
fee.
pl. 3
fez, 3–4
feez, 5
fese, 5–6
feeze, 6
feas,
feis, 4–
fees. See also
feu,
feud n.2,
fief n. [a. AF. fee, fie = OF. fé, fié, *fiet (app. implied in fiez pl.), fief, fieu, fiu, Pr. feo, feu, fieu, It. fio (prob. from Fr. or Pr.; the Langobardic Lat. faderfium is a compound of Teut. fehu fee n.1), med.L. feodum, feudum (first cited by Du Cange from a charter of Charles the Fat, a.d. 884), also fevum, feum, fedium, in Sicily fegum. The mutual relation of the various Romanic and
med.L. forms is somewhat obscure. According to some scholars,
fief is a
vbl. n. f. fiever to grant in fee,
f. fieu, which, as well as the other forms of the
n., descends from
feodum or its
Teut. source. The ultimate etymology is uncertain. A prevalent view is that the word is
f. OHG. fehu cattle, property, money (
= fee n.1), +
ôd wealth, property. This must be rejected, because such an etymology could directly yield no other sense than that of ‘movable property’, which is very remote from the sense of
feodum as used in early records,
viz. usufruct granted in requital of service (often opposed to
alodis, originally meaning ‘inheritance’);
cf. the synonyms,
Ger. lehen,
OE. lǽn (the same word as
Eng. loan), and L.
beneficium,
i.e. something granted to a subject by the kindness of his lord. A more tenable theory is that the
OF. fiu is an adoption of the
Teut. fehu in the contextual sense of ‘wages, payment for service’; the
Rom. word certainly had this meaning (see branch II below), and it is conceivable that the feudal sense is a specific application of it. The
d of the L. forms,
feudum,
feodum, however, is left unexplained by this hypothesis; some regard it as a euphonic insertion (comparing
It. chiodo nail from vulgar L.
*clo-um from
clavum); others think that it is due to the analogy of
allodium; and others suppose
feudum to be a
vbl. n. f. feudare = feum dare; but each of these views involves serious difficulties. It is not impossible that two originally distinct words may have been confused. A conjecture proposed by Prof. Kern, and approved by some German jurists, is that
feodum represents an
OHG. *fehôd, related to the
vb. fehôn, which is recorded only in the sense ‘to eat, feed upon’, but is supposed on etymological grounds to have had the wider meaning ‘to take for one's enjoyment’. This would account fairly well for the sense, but involves too much hypothesis to be accepted with confidence. It is curious, if the word be of
Teut. formation, that there is no direct proof of its having existed in any
Teut. language, nor is it found even in the L. text of the Frankish laws.]
I. 1. a. Feudal Law. An estate in land (in England always a heritable estate), held on condition of homage and service to a superior lord, by whom it is granted and in whom the ownership remains; a fief, feudal benefice.
† to take (a person's) fee: to become his vassal. Now only
Hist. ecclesiastical fee (L.
feodum ecclesiasticum): one held by an ecclesiastical person or corporation, and not owing any but spiritual service.
knight's fee,
lay fee: see
knight n.,
lay a.
| [1292 Britton iii. ii. §1 Plusours maneres des feez sount et de tenures.] c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 63 Þerfor vnto þam tuo he gaf Griffyns feez. c 1400 Melayne 1371 Allas..That ever I tuke thi fee! 1473 J. Warkworth Chron. 23 A generalle resumpcion of alle lordschippes..and feys grawntede be the Kynge. 1767 Blackstone Comm. II. 105 Feodum, or fee, is that which is held of some superior, on condition of rendering him service. 1836 Baines Hist. Lanc. III. 204 The great fee or lordship of Pontefract was vested in them. 1844 Williams Real Prop. (1877) 43 The word fee anciently meant any estate feudally held of another person. 1863 H. Cox Instit. ii. xi. 583 [Of the Counties Palatine] there remain now only those of Lancaster and Durham..the latter formerly an ecclesiastical fee belonging to the Bishop of Durham. |
b. Phrases,
(as) in or of fee (
= L.
in,
de feudo,
ut in feudo): by a heritable right subject to feudal obligations. Now only
Hist. Also
transf. and
fig.| [1292 Britton i. xxi. §4 Autres qe il ne avoint en lour demeyne cum de fee.] c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 86 William þe Conqueror his ancestres & he Held with grete honour Normundie in fe Of alle kynges of France. c 1470 Henry Wallace x. 977 Schyr Amer hecht he suld it haiff in hyr Till hald in fe and othir landis mo. 1491 Act 7 Hen. VII, c. 12 §5 That every recovery so had be as gode..as if the King were seised of the premises in his demesne as of fee. 1494 Fabyan Chron. vi. ccxvii. 236 To..holde it [the lande] of hym as in fee. 1587 Golding De Mornay xx. 305 Sith we hold all things of him [God] in fee, we owe him fealty and homage. 1852 C. M. Yonge Cameos (1877) II. v. 57 The sovereignty of the provinces he now held in fee were made over to him. |
2. a. Common Law. An estate of inheritance in land. Also in phrases as in 1 b. (A fee is either a
fee-simple or a
fee-tail; but
in fee is usually
= ‘in fee-simple’.)
In
Eng. Law theoretically identical with sense 1, all landed property being understood to be held feudally of the Crown. In the
U.S. the holder of the fee is in theory as well as in fact the absolute owner of the land.
| 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 700 The baronie he gaif To Durhame kirk in heretage and fie. 1628 Coke On Litt. iii. iv. §293. 189 It is to be vnderstood that when it is said..that a man is seised in fee..it shall be intended in fee simple. 1764 Burn Poor Laws 184 To purchase lands in fee. 1809 J. Marshall Const. Opin. (1839) 126 Peck..covenanted that Georgia..was legally the owner in fee of the land in question. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) I. 160 If a woman, tenant in tail general, makes a feoffment in fee, and takes back an estate in fee. Ibid. VI. 265 Here the fee was expressly given to the trustees. 1827 Jarman Powell's Devises II. 149 An estate of which the devisor was mortgagee in fee. 1844 Williams Real Prop. (1879) 43 A fee may now be said to mean an estate of inheritance. 1858 Polson Law & L. 197 Seized in fee. |
b. fig. esp. in phrase
to hold in fee, to hold as one's absolute and rightful possession.
| a 1553 Udall Royster D. iii. iv. (Arb.) 52 One madde propretie these women haue in fey, When ye will, they will not. 1639 G. Daniel Ecclus. xxiv. 64 My ffee [A.V. inheritance] Is sweeter then Virgin-Combes. a 1674 Milton Sonn. xii, Which after held the sun and moon in fee. 1802 Wordsw. On Extinction Venet. Rep., Once did she hold the gorgeous East in fee. 1846 Trench Mirac. Introd. (1862) 38 Powers..such rather as were evidently his own in fee. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxxix. I know thee of what force thou art To hold the costliest love in fee. |
c. base fee: see
base a. 11. Also (see
quot.).
| 1883 F. Pollock Land Laws 108 The curious kind of estate created by the conveyance in fee-simple of a tenant in tail not in possession, without the concurrence of the owners of estates preceding his own, is called a base fee. |
d. In
s.w. dialect. (See
quots.)
| c 1630 Risdon Surv. Devon §91 (1810) 87 This town consisteth of three parts, the fee, the manor, and the borough; the fee is of such freeholders and gentlemen as do dwell in Devonshire. 1880 W. Cornw. Gloss., Fee, freehold property. ‘Our house is fee’. |
e. at a pin's fee: at the value of a pin.
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. iv. 65, I doe not set my life at a pin's fee. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. VI. xvi. x. 260 The present Editor does not..value the rumour at a pin's fee. |
3. A territory held in fee; a lordship.
| [1292 Britton iii. ii. §1 Qe les seignurs des fez eyent les gardes de lour feez.] 1413 Lydg. Pilgr. Sowle iv. xxvi. (1483) 72 Vnder thy lord god as chyef lord of the fee. c 1430 Syr Tryam. 1056, Xij fosters..that were kepars of that fee. 15.. Adam Bel 56 in Hazl. E.P.P. II. 162 Forty fosters of the fe These outlawes had y-slaw. 1741 T. Robinson Gavelkind v. 49 The Tenements within the Fee were not departible. 1851 Turner Dom. Archit. II. Introd. 20 It [the castle] was the chief place of his honour or fee. 1869 Lowell Singing Leaves 84 My lute and I are lords of more Than thrice this kingdom's fee. |
| transf. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 960 Þat folk þat in þose fees [cities of the Plain] lenged. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. vi. ii. 49 Sum hethyn man..Mycht usurpe Crystyn Feys. |
† 4. a. The heritable right to an office of profit, granted by a superior lord and held on condition of feudal homage. Only in phrases
in, of, to fee.
b. The heritable right to a pension or revenue similarly granted.
Obs.| a. [1292 Britton i. xii. §9 Et defendoms a touz ceux qi cleyment aver garde des prisouns en fee.] 1375 Barbour Bruce xi. 456 Schir robert of Keth..wes Marshall of all the host of fee. c 1470 Henry Wallace vii. 1026 In heretage gaiff him office to fee Off all Straithern and schirreiff off the toun. 1670 Blount Law Dict. s.v., The word Fee is sometimes used..for a perpetual right incorporeal; as to have the keeping of Prisons..in Fee. 1700 tr. Charter of Edw. I, in Tyrell Hist. Eng. II. 820 No Forester..who is not a Forester in Fee..shall take Chiminage. |
| b. [1292 Britton ii. x. §2 Une autre manere de purchaz est que home fet de annuel fee de deners ou de autre chose en fee.] 1823 Crabb Technol. Dict., Fee..a rent or annuity granted to one, and his heirs, which is a fee personal. |
† 5. a. Homage rendered, or fealty promised, by a vassal to a superior. Also, employment, service.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 145 Þe moneth of Nouembre..com kyng William..& þer ȝald him his fee. 1486 Certificate in Surtees Misc. (1890) 49, I..accept hyme to be of my fee and counesell. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vi. x. 21 Venus Damzels, all within her fee. |
† b. to be at a, in fee of, to, with: to be in the pay or service of, under an obligation to; hence, to be in league with. Also,
to have (one) in fee: to retain, hold in one's service.
Obs.| 1529 S. Fish Supplic. Beggars 8 Are not all the lerned men in your realme in fee with theim. 1590 Webbe Trav. (Arb.) 34 Beeing then in yeerely fee to the King of Spaine. 1600 Holland Livy xlii. v. (1609) 1118 In fee as it were with him, in regard of many courtesies and gracious favours received at his hands. 1633 Bp. Hall Hard Texts 324 As if ye were at a fee with death and Hell. 1703 T. N. City & C. Purchaser 208 Some of those Bricklayers that are in Fee with 'em. 1756 Nugent Gr. Tour IV. 33 He will endeavour to carry you to his own favourite house, which has him in fee. |
II. Denoting a payment or gift.
[This branch is commonly referred to
fee n.1, but the
AF. is
fee, and the
med.L.
feodum, both in England and on the continent;
cf. It. fio. The two
ns., however, being coincident in form, were certainly confused, and in many instances it makes no difference to the sense whether the word is taken as
n.1 or as n.2 Senses 6–8 seem to have been influenced by branch I; sense 9 agrees with a continental use of
feodum.]
† 6. A tribute or offering to a superior.
Obs.| c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 266 This..god..May winne of me mo fees thus Than ever he wan. a 1400–50 Alexander 4466 Þan fall ȝe flatt on þe fold, with fees þaim adoures. Ibid 5139 Foure hundreth fellis ȝit to fee. 1602 Dekker Satiromastix Wks. 1873 I. 253 Knees Are made for kings, they are the subjects Fees. |
7. a. The sum which a public officer (? originally, one who held his office ‘in fee’: see 4 a) is authorized to demand as payment for the execution of his official functions.
| [1292 Britton i. xii. §7 Ne ja par defaute de tiel fee ne soit nul prisoun plus detenu.] c 1450 Bk. Curtasye 598 in Babees Bk. (1868) 319 Sex pons þer-fore to feys he takes. 1494 Nottingham Rec. III. 279 To the Chaumberlens for theire fese xxvjs. viijd. 1529 Act 21 Hen. VIII, c. 5 §6 Any such Ordynary..shall nat in any wyse take for the same above the fees lymytted by this Acte. 1546 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 25 To the Auditor for his Fee xiiijs. iiijd. 1581 Lambarde Eiren. iii. i. (1588) 333 Two Justices of Peace, may license such as be delivered out of Gaoles, to beg for their fees. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 217, I should rob the Deaths-man of his Fee. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. 2 The fie of the seale, ten pounds. 1680 Tryal & Sent. Eliz. Cellier 18, I came to pay the Clerk of the Council his Fees..I was obliged to pay the Fees my self at the Council. 1727 Swift Descr. Morning, The turnkey now his flock returning sees, Duly let out a-nights to steal for fees. 1817 W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 936 The captain had paid an extra fee in order to procure his clearances. 1858 Kingsley Poems, Earl Haldan's Dau. 6 The locks of six princesses Must be my marriage fee. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) II. x. 471 The greedy secular clergy refused the first sacrament except on payment of a fee. |
b. Extended to denote the remuneration paid or due to a lawyer, a physician, or (in recent use) any professional man, a director of a public company, etc. for an occasional service.
| 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 16 The lawiers I would wish to take lesse fees of their clients. 1644 Milton Educ. Wks. (1847) 99/1 Litigious terms, fat contentions, and flowing fees. 1655 Culpepper Riverius Epigram, Who spend Their Life in Visits, and whose Labors end in taking Fees. 1727–38 Gay Fables ii. ix. 21 The fee gives eloquence its spirit. 1791 Boswell Johnson an. 1784 (1847) 800/2 Physicians..generously attended him without accepting any fees. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. vi. 34 What fee, doctor..shall I give you for saving his life? 1863 P. Barry Dockyard Econ. 48 Few of them [Lawyers] are proof against a fee. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Voy. Eng. Wks. II. 11 The remuneration [for public lectures] was equivalent to the fees at that time paid in this country for the like services. |
c. The sum paid for admission to an examination, a society, etc.; or for entrance to a public building. Also,
admission-fee,
court fee,
entrance-fee.
| 1389 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 88 He schal..payen his fees and sythyn for hys entres. 1891 Cambridge Univ. Calendar 22 A fee of {pstlg}2 2s. is paid to the Common Chest by every student on each admission to a Special Examination. 1893 Oxford Univ. Calendar 30 University Museum. Open..to visitors (without fee) from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. |
d. Terminal payments for instruction at school.
| 1616 R. C. Times' Whistle iv. 1428 For duble fees A dunce may turne a Doctour. 1841 W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. III. 358 Private schools are taught, for small fees, by..priests. 1876 Grant Burgh Sch. Scotl. ii. 467 In 1746 the council [of Kirkcaldy] enact that the fees shall be paid quarterly. |
† 8. a. A perquisite allowed to an officer or servant (
esp. a forester, a cook or scullion).
fee of a bullock: see
quot. 1730.
Obs.| c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 945 Thus hath here lord..hem payed Here wages and here fees for here servise. 1474 Househ. Ord. 32 The larders hath to theire fees the neckes of mutton twoe fingers from the heade. [a 1490 Botoner Itin. (Nasmith 1778) 371 Et ipse emebat de cocis lez feez.] 1486 Bk. St. Albans F iv a, The Right shulder..Yeueth to the foster for that is his fee. 1557 Order of Hospitalls H ij b, The Butler..You shall have no manner of Fees, but your ordinarie wages. 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 831/2 The ofscouringes or fees of the kitchen. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. i. 23, I, heere's a Deere, whose skins a Keepers Fee. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 833 Certain young men..snatcht it [food] hastily up as their fees, and like greedie Harpies ravened it downe in a moment. 1730–6 Bailey (folio), The Fee of a Bullock, the bones of a bullocks thighs and shoulders, having the meat cut off (but not clean) for salting for victualling ships. |
† b. A warrior's share of spoil; a dog's share of the game.
Obs.| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1622 He com gayn, His feez þer for to fonge. 14.. Venery de Twety in Rel. Ant I. 153 The houndes shal be rewardid with the nekke and with the bewellis, with the fee. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 697 The hare being killed, it will be good to giue the dogs their fees, the better to incourage them. |
| transf. 1659 B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 101 The Clergy hath ever served as Fee, or prey to the seditious. |
† c. Any allotted portion.
Obs.| 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 73 Giue sheepe to their fees the mistle of trees. Ibid. 78 In pruning and trimming all maner of trees, reserue to ech cattel their properly fees. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Discharge v, Onely the present is thy part and fee. 1642 H. More Song of Soul i. ii. xiii, There Psyche's feet impart a smaller fee Of gentle warmth. |
9. A fixed salary or wage; the pay of a soldier. Also
pl. Wages.
Obs. exc. Sc. or
Hist.| c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xv. 170 He that kepethe him [a sacred ox] hath every day grete fees. 1533 Gau Richt Vay (1888) 16 They that haldis thair seruandis feis fra thayme. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 133 Men of weir that wald tak meit and fie. 1637–50 Row Hist. Kirk (1842) 149 Mr. Bruce..hes 40 crounes monethlie for his intertainment, and 500 crounes of fie. 1686 G. Stuart Joco-Ser. Disc. 26 Ye shall nev'r crave twice of me The smallest Penny of your Fee. 1724 Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) II. 194 Her fee and bowntith in her lap. 1773 Erskine Inst. Law Scot. iii. vi. §7. 507 Servants fees..being given that they may maintain themselves in a condition suitable to their service..cannot be arrested. a 1810 Tannahill Poems (1846) 103 For I hae wair'd my winter's fee. 1878 Simpson Sch. Shaks. I. 10 Holding the post of King's standard-bearer, with the fee of six shillings and eight pence a day. |
10. † a. A prize, a reward.
Obs.| c 1400 Destr. Troy 2400 The fairest of þo fele shull þat fe haue. c 1470 Henry Wallace xi. 460, ‘I wald fayn spek with the’ ..‘Thow may for litill fe.’ a 1541 Wyatt in Tottell's Misc. (Arb.) 81 Chance hath..to another geuen the fee Of all my losse to haue the gayn. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. x. 3 Yet is the paine thereof much greater then the fee. 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. ii. Fathers 91 Thy God, thy King, thy Fee, thy Fence I am. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Businesse viii, Two deaths had been thy fee. |
b. An occasional gift, a gratuity, given in recognition of services rendered. Phrase,
without fee or reward.
| a 1592 Greene Geo.-a-Greene Wks. (Rtldg.) 267/1 Fetch me A stand of ale..this is for a fee to welcome Robin Hood. 1768 Foote Devil on 2 Sticks 11, It is a part of the world where a fee is never refused. 1832 W. Irving Alhambra II. 90 ‘God forbid’, said he, ‘that I should ask fee or reward for doing a common act of humanity’. 1863 Hawthorne Our Old Home (1884) 145 The attendants..expect fees on their own private account. 1873 Tristram Moab xv. 291 The not unacceptable fee of a kid-skin of fresh butter. |
† c. In bad sense: A bribe.
Obs.| 1549 Coverdale Erasm. Par. 2 Pet. ii. 15 Being corrupt with wicked fee. 1595 Shakes. John ii. i. 170 Drawes those heauen-mouing pearles from his poor eies Which heauen shall take in nature of a fee. c 1643 Milton Sonn., To Lady Marg. Ley, Unstain'd with gold or fee. |
III. attrib. and
Comb. 11. General relations (in senses 7–10).
a. attrib., as
fee-system,
fee-table,
fee-theatre.
b. objective, as
fee-payer,
fee-seeker;
fee-catching vbl. n.;
fee-charging,
fee-checking,
fee-gathering (also
vbl. n.),
fee-paying,
fee-yielding adjs. c. instrumental, as
fee-fed adj.| 1810 Bentham Packing vii. (1821) 184 A mere pretence for *fee-catching. |
| 1897 Daily News 2 Mar. 2/6 They did not know the number of *fee-charging schools..as distinguished from the general elementary system of the country. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. xiii. 298 The private fee-charging establishments. |
| 1810 Bentham Packing vii. (1821) 187 So *fee-checking an innovation. |
| 1808 ― Sc. Reform 71 *Fee-fed lawyers always excepted. |
| Ibid. 9 The Technical or *Fee-gathering system. 1828 Edin. Rev. XLVIII. 468 Fee-gathering is the real foundation on which the laws of England have been framed! 1832 Austin Jurispr. (1879) II. xxxix. 703 The profession would not be merely venal and fee-gathering. |
| 1931 Times Educ. Suppl. 15 Aug. 321/2 The entrance examination for *fee-payers. |
| 1893 Daily News 12 July 5/1 *Fee-paying schools. |
| 1890 Ibid. 7 June 2/1 Lawyers and other *fee-seekers. |
| 1891 Ibid. 23 Nov. 2/1 The *fee system seems to me one of the most outrageous and indefensible. |
| 1812 J. Quincy in Life 244 If..we..mete out contributions for national safety by our *fee-tables. |
| 1808 Bentham Sc. Reform 8 Sale of a *fee-yielding office. |
12. Special comb.
† fee-buck, ? a buck received as a perquisite;
fee-estate (see
quot.);
fee-expectant: see
expectant a. 3,
† fee-Gloucester, a Cornish tenure;
fee-fund (see
quot.);
† fee-grief, a grief that has a particular owner;
fee-liege (see
liege);
† fee-Morton, a Cornish tenure (
cf. fee-Gloucester);
† fee-penny, an earnest of a bargain;
† fee-pie (in humorous phrase
to eat fee pie, ? to receive bribes);
fee-royal (see
royal). Also
fee-farm,
fee-simple,
fee-tail.
| a 1643 W. Cartwright Siege iv. ii, You..Put of your Mercer with your *Fee-buck for That season. |
| 1775 Ash, *Fee-estate, lands or tenements for which some service..is paid to the chief lord. |
| 1651 tr. Kitchin's Jurisdictions (ed. 2) 301 If it [land in frank-marriage] were given to them in taile to have to them and their heirs, they have taile and *fee expectant. |
| 1861 W. Bell Dict. Law Scot., *Fee-fund..the dues of Court payable on the tabling of summonses..etc., out of which the..officers of the Court are paid. |
| 1602 Carew Cornwall 38 b, They pay in most places onely fee-Morton releefes which is after fiue markes the whole Knights fee..whereas that of *fee-Gloucester is fiue pound. |
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. iv. iii. 196 Is it a *Fee-griefe Due to some single brest? |
| 1695 G. Ridpath (title) Sir T. Craig's Scotland's Soveraignty Asserted..against those who maintain that Scotland is a Feu, or *Fee-Liege of England. |
| 1602 Carew Cornwall 38 b, *Fee-Morton..so called of John Earle first of Morton. |
| 1552 T. Gresham in Strype Eccl. Mem. II. App. C. 147 When the Kings Majesties father did first begin..to take up mony upon interest..he took his *feepeny in merchandize. |
| a 1640 Day Peregr. Schol. (1881) 72 Saieing he was a wise Justice to eate *fee-pie with his clarke. |
| 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 145/2 He gaf to them..the *fee ryall of that buscage. |
Add:
[II.] [7.] e. spec. = transfer fee (b)
s.v. transfer n. 5.
Assoc. Football.
| 1899 J. C. Clegg Let. 10 Mar. in G. Green Hist. Football Assoc. (1954) ix. 406, I send the following suggestions... That no larger fee shall be demanded than the amounts paid by the clubs on acquiring players. 1935 F. Wall 50 Yrs. Football xii. 132 Prior to the War it was generally believed that Manchester City paid the highest fee, {pstlg}2,500 to Derby County for Horace Barnes, on May 12, 1914. 1980 Guinness Bk. Records 272/1 The record fee received by a British club was {pstlg}1 million by Birmingham City from Nottingham Forest for Trevor John Francis. |
▪ III. † fee, n.3 Obs. Also 5
fey.
[a. OF. fee, feie (F. foie).] The liver.
| 14.. Noble Bk. Cookry (1882) 96 Tak and dight the pouche and the fee of a pik. c 1450 Two Cookery-bks. (1888) 101 Kepe the fey or the lyuer, and kutte awey the gall. |
▪ IV. fee, v.1 (
fiː)
Also
Sc. 4–6
fey, 5–6
fei, 6
fie.
[f. fee n.2] † I. 1. trans. ? To invest with a fief; ? to grant as a fief.
Obs.—0| 1483 Cath. Angl. 124/2 To Fee, feoffare. |
II. (From senses 7–10 of the
n.)
2. trans. To give a fee to.
to fee away (nonce-use): to induce by a fee to go away.
| a 1529 Skelton Ware the Hauke 151 So the Scribe was feed. 1601 ? Marston Pasquil & Kath. i. 278 He that fees me best, speeds best. 1716 Swift Phillis, Suppose all parties now agreed, The writings drawn, the lawyer fee'd. 1803 Med. Jrnl. IX. 62 The Governor and a few others..chose to fee us for attendance in their respective families. 1806–7 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) iv. xxvii, You cannot drive or even fee them away as they are paid for torturing you by some barbarians at the next door. 1859 All Year Round No. 35. 203, I had..feed the steward. 1884 Times (weekly ed.) 12 Sept. 14/2 You must fee the waiter when you give the order. |
| absol. 1806–7 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) v. xix, After having fee'd very high for places at Mrs. Siddon's benefit. 1884 Times (weekly ed.) 12 Sept. 14/2 At the hotel the guest who does not fee in advance soon finds the zeal of the waiters fall off. |
3. To engage for a fee;
Sc. to hire, employ (servants, etc.);
† transf. to make use of (an occasion).
| c 1470 Henry Wallace ix. 40 Semen he feyt and gaiff thaim gudlye wage. 1529 Lyndesay Compl. 39 The father of Fameill..Quhilk..Feit men to wyrk in his wyne ȝaird. a 1572 Knox Hist. Ref. i. Wks. 1846 I. 39 Greadynes of preastis not onlie receave false miracles, bot also thei cherise and fies knaiffs for that purpoise. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. ii. ii. 204, I haue..fee'd euery slight occasion, that could but nigardly giue mee sight of her. 1701 Penn in Pa. Hist. Soc. Mem. IX. 78 A lawyer sends me word he is offered to be feed against me. a 1810 Tannahill Poems (1846) 12 That day ye feed the skelpor Highland callan. 1806–7 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) xxi. xvi, Learning to box too—i.e. feeing a great raw-boned fellow to thresh you as long as he can stand over you. 1876 Smiles Sc. Natur. viii. (ed. 4) 149 Young lads and lasses came in from the country to be feed, and farmers..came in to fee them. |
† b. In a bad sense: To bribe.
Obs.| 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 485 heading, Heire the Inglis knycht feys a tratour. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 515 How Nathologus feyit ane Man to follow Dorus..for to slay him. 1616 R. C. Times' Whistle vi. 2537 Fee but the Sumner, and he shall not cite thee. 1727 De Foe Protest. Monast. vii, Without Feeing the Journalists or Publishers. c 1800 K. White Clift. Gr. 318 Should honours tempt thee, and should riches fee. |
4. intr. for refl. To hire oneself.
| a 1810 Tannahill Poems (1846) 17 Blythe was the time when he fee'd wi' my Father, O, Happy war' the days when we herded thegither, O. 1875 G. Macdonald Sir Gibbie xviii. 100 They would not fee to it [a situation] for any amount of wages. |
▪ V. fee, v.2 Mining.
(
fiː) See
quot.| 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal Mining, Fee, to load up the coal, etc., in a heading into tubs. |
▪ VI. fee var. of
fay n.3