1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Fief

​FIEF, a feudal estate in land, land held from a superior (seeFeudalism). The word is the French form, which is representedin Medieval Latin as feudum or feodum, and in English as “fee”or “feu” (see Fee). The A. Fr. feoffer, to invest with a fief or fee,has given the English law terms “feoffee” and “feoffment” (q.v.).