fief

Meaning

Noun

• An estate held by a person on condition of providing military service to a superior.
• Something over which one has rights or exercises control.
• An area of dominion, especially in a corporate or governmental bureaucracy.

Related

Similar words

• manor
• seigniory

Origin

• From Middle French fief, from Old French fief, from Medieval Latin fevum, a variant of feudum (whence also Old French fieu, fied), from Old Frankish *fehu, from Proto-Germanic *fehu, from Proto-Indo-European *peku-, *peḱu-. fee, and feud.