Definition of FEE

fee

Plural: fees

Noun

  • a fixed charge for a privilege or for professional services
  • an interest in land capable of being inherited
  • An amount charged for a privilege.
  • An amount charged for professional services.
  • An additional monetary payment charged for a service or good, especially one that is minor compared to the underlying cost.
  • An inheritable estate in land, whether absolute and without limitation to potential heirs (fee simple) or with limitations to particular kinds of heirs (fee tail).
  • A right to the use of a superior's land as a stipend for certain services to be performed, typically military service.
  • Synonym of fief: the land so held.
  • An inheritable estate in land held of a feudal lord on condition of performance of certain services, typically military service.
  • Synonym of possession.
  • Money paid or bestowed; payment; emolument.
  • A prize or reward. Only used in the set phrase "A finder's fee" in Modern English.

Verb

Verb Forms: feed, feeing, fees

  • To pay a fixed charge or sum for a service.
  • give a tip or gratuity to in return for a service, beyond the compensation agreed on
    • "fee the steward"
  • To reward for services performed, or to be performed; to recompense; to hire or keep in hire; hence, to bribe.

Examples

  • If you want to play in the Scrabble tournament, you’ll have to fee up front.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English fee, fe, feh, feoh, from Old English feoh (“cattle, property, wealth, money, payment, tribute, fee”) with contamination from Old French fieu, fief (from Medieval Latin fevum, a variant of feudum (see feud), from Frankish *fehu (“cattle, livestock”); whence fief), both from Proto-Germanic *fehu (“cattle, sheep, livestock, owndom”), from Proto-Indo-European *péḱu (“livestock”).
Cognate with Old High German fihu (“cattle, neat”), Scots fe, fie (“cattle, sheep, livestock, deer, goods, property, wealth, money, wages”), West Frisian fee (“livestock”), Dutch vee (“cattle, livestock”), Low German Veeh (“cattle, livestock, property”), Veh, German Vieh (“cattle, livestock”), Danish fæ (“cattle, beast, dolt”), Swedish fä (“beast, cattle, dolt”), Norwegian fe (“cattle”), Icelandic fé (“livestock, assets, money”), Latin pecū (“cattle”), Sanskrit पशु (paśu, “cattle”).

Synonyms

bung, tip, fief, possession

Scrabble Score: 6

fee: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
fee: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
fee: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 6

fee: valid Words With Friends Word