![]() The feudal sense was extended from landholdings to inheritable offices of service to a feudal lord (late 14c. ![]() Hence fee-simple (late 14c.) "absolute ownership," as opposed to fee-tail (early 15c.) "entailed ownership," inheritance limited to some particular class of heirs (second element from Old French taillir "to cut, to limit"). ![]() Via Anglo-French come the legal senses "estate in land or tenements held on condition of feudal homage land, property, possession" (c. The other word is Anglo-French fee, from Old French fieu, a variant of fief "possession, holding, domain feudal duties, payment" (see fief), which apparently is a Germanic compound in which the first element is cognate with Old English feoh. This is from PIE *peku- "cattle" (source also of Sanskrit pasu, Lithuanian pekus "cattle " Latin pecu "cattle," pecunia "money, property"). The Old English word is feoh "livestock, cattle movable property possessions in livestock, goods, or money riches, treasure, wealth money as a medium of exchange or payment," from Proto-Germanic *fehu (source also of Old Saxon fehu, Old High German fihu, German Vieh "cattle," Gothic faihu "money, fortune"). Middle English, representing the merger or mutual influence of two words, one from Old English, one from an Old French form of the same Germanic word, and both ultimately from a PIE root meaning "cattle."
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