feu

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman fieu (“fief”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fjuː/
• Rhymes: -uː
• Homophone: few

Noun

feu (plural feus)

1. (Scots law, property law, historical) Land held in feudal tenure.

Verb

feu (third-person singular simple present feus, present participle feuing, simple past and past participle feued)

1. (Scots law, transitive) To bring (land) under the system of feudal tenure.
   • 1813, "Keith", Entry in Nicholas Carlisle, A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, Volume II, unnumbered page,

     The Village of OLD KEITH is of ancient date, having been partly feued by the predecessors of the Family of Forbes, and partly feued by the Ministers, and stands upon the glebe: this Village is greatly on the decline, and almost a ruin.—About the year 1750, the late Lord FINDLATER divided a barren Muir, and feued it out in small lots […] .

   • 1841, Alexander Dunlop, J. M. Bell, John Murray, James Donaldson (reporters), Cases Decided in the Court of Session, Volume 3, 2nd Series, page 620,

     The prohibition of feuing beyond a certain extent was clearly implied; […] .

   • 2001, Richard Rodger, “The Transformation of Edinburgh: Land, Property and Trust in the Nineteenth Century”, in Paperback, Cambridge University Press, published 2004, page 68:

     But in effect, whereas Heriot's knew that their feuing conditions were subordinate to the law of contract, the Earl of Moray knew by 1822 that as a result of the Lords' decision in 1818 estate development could not be controlled by contract law and the feuing plan. […] The impact on the Moray estate was that […] despite a recession in the Edinburgh property market generally after 1826, virtually the entire estate was feued by 1836.

See also

Etymology

From Latin foedus.

Adjective

feu m sg (feminine singular fea, neuter singular feo, masculine plural feos, feminine plural fees)

1. ugly
2. bad, gloomy (weather)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Catalan feu, from Vulgar Latin *feus, from Frankish *fehu, from Proto-Germanic *fehu.

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Etymology 3

Further reading

• “feu” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “feu”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “feu” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “feu” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fø/

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old French fu, from Latin focus (“hearth”), which in Late and Vulgar Latin replaced the Classical Latin ignis (“fire”).

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old French feüz, fadude (“one who has accomplished his destiny”), from Vulgar Latin *fatutus, from Latin fatum (“destiny”).

Further reading

• “feu”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Determiner

feu

1. Alternative form of fewe

Etymology

From Old French fu.

Noun

feu m (plural feux)

1. fire

Etymology

From Old French feu, from Latin focus (“hearth”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Jersey):

  (file)

Noun

feu m (plural feux)

1. (Jersey) fire
2. (Jersey, medicine) rash

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin foedus. Compare Spanish feo.

Adjective

feu

1. (Campidanese) dirty

Etymology

From Old French fieu (“fief”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [fjuː]

Noun

feu (plural feus)

1. (Scots law, property law) feud, tenure, piece of land held by that tenure

Verb

feu (third-person singular simple present feus, present participle feuin, simple past feuit, past participle feuit)

1. to grant or hold land by tenure

Etymology

From Latin focus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /føː/

Noun

feu ?

1. fire