Etymologically
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feud

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /fjuːd/ (UK); /fjud/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English fede, feide (“enmity, hostility”), with an altered spelling,[2][3][4][5][6] borrowed from Old French fede, faide (“war, hostility, vengeance”),[2][3][4][7] from a Germanic source,[2][4][6] compare Old High German fēhida (“contention, quarrel”) (German Fehde),[3][4][8] from Proto-Germanic *faihiþō,[3][4][6] related to Old English fǣhþ (“enmity”) and fāh (“hostile”) (see foe).[3][4][5][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Active hatred, enmity or hostility (before 1300 in the OED; before 1325 in Barnhart; about 1300 in Etymonline), at first a northern English and Scottish word.[9][3][4][6]

Semantic evolution

From about 1425 it meant a state of bitter and lasting mutual hostility,[9] and since the 1580s a perpetual hostility between two families or clans, marked by killings in revenge.[9][10] The word was adopted in standard English in the 16th century with the spelling feud.[3][11] The change is unexplained;[11][1] influence from the unrelated legal word feud “fief” (1614), from Medieval Latin feudum, has been suggested but is considered improbable.[1][11][9] The verb, to carry on a feud, dates from 1673.[9][4]

Timeline

  • before 1300 – hatred, enmity.[9]
  • c. 1425 – a state of lasting mutual hostility.[9]
  • 1582 – a hereditary vendetta between families.[9]
  • 1673 – verb.[9][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A bitter, often prolonged quarrel or state of enmity, especially between two families or clans; a vendetta.
  2. A bitter quarrel or dispute.

Verb

  1. To carry on a feud.

Word family

  • feudist

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  11. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray