feu

See also: fèu, féu, and fe'u

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman fieu (“fief”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fjuː/
• Rhymes: -uː
• Homophone: few

Noun

feu (plural feus)

1. (Scots law, property law, historical) Land held in feudal tenure.

Derived terms

• feuar
• feu duty

Verb

feu (third-person singular simple present feus, present participle feuing, simple past and past participle feued)

1. (Scots law, transitive) To bring (land) under the system of feudal tenure.
   • 1813, "Keith", Entry in Nicholas Carlisle, A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, Volume II, unnumbered page,

     The Village of OLD KEITH is of ancient date, having been partly feued by the predecessors of the Family of Forbes, and partly feued by the Ministers, and stands upon the glebe: this Village is greatly on the decline, and almost a ruin.—About the year 1750, the late Lord FINDLATER divided a barren Muir, and feued it out in small lots […] .

   • 1841, Alexander Dunlop, J. M. Bell, John Murray, James Donaldson (reporters), Cases Decided in the Court of Session, Volume 3, 2nd Series, page 620,

     The prohibition of feuing beyond a certain extent was clearly implied; […] .

   • 2001, Richard Rodger, “The Transformation of Edinburgh: Land, Property and Trust in the Nineteenth Century”, in Paperback, Cambridge University Press, published 2004, page 68:

     But in effect, whereas Heriot's knew that their feuing conditions were subordinate to the law of contract, the Earl of Moray knew by 1822 that as a result of the Lords' decision in 1818 estate development could not be controlled by contract law and the feuing plan. […] The impact on the Moray estate was that […] despite a recession in the Edinburgh property market generally after 1826, virtually the entire estate was feued by 1836.

See also

etymologically unrelated terms

• feu de joie
• grand feu
• pot au feu

 

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin foedus.

Adjective

feu m sg (feminine singular fea, neuter singular feo, masculine plural feos, feminine plural fees)

1. ugly
2. bad, gloomy (weather)

Catalan

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Catalan feu, from Vulgar Latin *feus, from Frankish *fehu, from Proto-Germanic *fehu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈfew]

Noun

feu m (plural feus)

1. fiefdom, fee

Related terms

• feudal
• feudatari
• infeudació
• infeudar

 

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Alternative forms

• feis (Balearic, second-person plural present and imperative only)
• faceu (Balearic, second-person plural subjunctive only)
• fé (Balearic, third-person singular preterite only)
• féu (pre-2016 spelling, third-person singular preterite only)

Pronunciation

(second-person plural present, subjunctive, imperative)

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈfɛw]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈfəw]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈfew]

(third-person singular preterite)

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈfew]

Verb

feu

1. inflection of fer:
   1. second-person plural present indicative/subjunctive
   2. third-person singular preterite indicative
   3. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• (Alghero) IPA^(key): /ˈfɛw/

Adjective

feu (feminine fea, masculine plural feus, feminine plural fees)

1. (Alghero) ugly
2. (Alghero) ungrateful
3. (Alghero) not good
4. (Alghero) morally bad

Derived terms

• feesa

 

References

• “feu, -ea”, in Diccionari d'Alguerés, 2022 May 21 (last accessed)

Further reading

• “feu” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “feu”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “feu” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “feu” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fø/

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old French fu, from Latin focus (“hearth”), which in Late and Vulgar Latin replaced the Classical Latin ignis (“fire”).

Noun

feu m (plural feux)

1. fire

   As-tu remarqué que tes cheveux sont en feu ? ― Have you noticed that your hair is on fire?

2. (uncountable, informal) lighter, something to light a cigarette with

   Tu aurais du feu ? ― You got a light?

3. traffic light

   feux tricolores ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   feux de signalisation ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • 1999, Patrick Lemaire, Psychologie cognitive:

     « Si le feu est vert, je passe »
     « Si le feu est rouge, je m’arrête »

     ‘If the light is green, I go.’
     ‘If the light is red, I stop.’

4. headlights

   feux de croisement ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   feux de route ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   feux de position ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   feux de détresse ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Derived terms

• à petit feu
• à plein feux
• allume-feu
• arme à feu
• au coin du feu
• au feu
• avoir le feu au cul
• avoir le feu aux fesses
• baptême du feu
• bouche à feu
• boule de feu
• briller de mille feux
• cessez-le-feu
• combattre le feu par le feu
• coup de feu
• coupe-feu
• cracheur de feu
• cure-feu
• dans le feu de l’action
• du feu de Dieu
• en feu
• épreuve du feu
• épreuve par le feu
• être pris entre deux feux
• faire feu
• faire long feu
• feu de Bengale
• feu de camp
• feu de forêt
• feu de joie
• feu de paille
• feu de peloton
• feu de salve
• feu d’artifice
• feu follet
• feu grégeois
• feu orange
• feu rouge
• feu roulant
• feu sacré
• feu vert
• feutier
• feux croisés
• feux de croisement
• feux de détresse
• feux de la rampe
• feux de position
• feux de route
• garde-feu
• il n’y a pas de fumée sans feu
• il n’y a pas le feu
• il n’y a pas le feu au lac
• jeter de l’huile sur le feu
• jette-feu
• jouer avec le feu
• mettre à feu et à sang
• mettre de l’huile sur le feu
• mettre le feu
• mettre sa main au feu
• mise à feu
• mouche à feu
• mouche de feu
• n’y voir que du feu
• ouvrir le feu
• pare-feu
• passer au feu
• péter le feu
• pique-feu
• pot-au-feu
• pousser le feu
• prendre feu
• puissance de feu
• sans feu ni lieu
• serre-feu
• sous les feux de la rampe
• surveiller comme le lait sur le feu
• Terre de Feu
• tire-feu
• tirer les marrons du feu
• toc-feu
• toque-feu
• tornade de feu
• tout feu tout flamme

 

Related terms

• foyer
• fouace
• fougasse

Descendants

• → Karipúna Creole French: djife

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old French feüz, fadude (“one who has accomplished his destiny”), from Vulgar Latin *fatutus, from Latin fatum (“destiny”).

Adjective

feu (feminine feue, masculine plural feus, feminine plural feues)

1. deceased, the late

   Elle était la sœur de feu Jean Dupont

   She was the sister of the late Jean Dupont

Further reading

• “feu”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Middle English

Determiner

feu

1. Alternative form of fewe

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French fu.

Noun

feu m (plural feux)

1. fire

Descendants

• French: feu

Norman

Etymology

From Old French feu, from Latin focus (“hearth”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Jersey):

  (file)

Noun

feu m (plural feux)

1. (Jersey) fire
2. (Jersey, medicine) rash

Derived terms

• coup d'feu (“shot”)
• feu d'jouaie (“bonfire”)
• feu ortcheux (“nettle rash, urticaria”)
• feu sauvage (“cold sore”)
• feux d'artifice (“fireworks”)
• montangne dé feu (“volcano”)
• ni feu ni feunque (“neither fire nor smoke”)
• ni feu ni fouôngne (“neither fire nor baking”)
• pièrre à feu (“flint”)
• saque-feu

 

Sardinian

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin foedus. Compare Spanish feo.

Adjective

feu

1. (Campidanese) dirty

Scots

Etymology

From Old French fieu (“fief”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [fjuː]

Noun

feu (plural feus)

1. (Scots law, property law) feud, tenure, piece of land held by that tenure

Verb

feu (third-person singular simple present feus, present participle feuin, simple past feuit, past participle feuit)

1. to grant or hold land by tenure

Derived terms

• feuar (“one who holds land in feu”)

Walloon

Etymology

From Latin focus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /føː/

Noun

feu ?

1. fire