n. [ OE. fe, feh, feoh, cattle, property, money, fief, AS. feoh cattle, property, money; the senses of “property, money, ” arising from cattle being used in early times as a medium of exchange or payment, property chiefly consisting of cattle; akin to OS. fehu cattle, property, D. vee cattle, OHG. fihu, fehu, G. vieh, Icel. fē cattle, property, money, Goth. faíhu, L. pecus cattle, pecunia property, money, Skr. paçu cattle, perh. orig., “a fastened or tethered animal, ” from a root signifying to bind, and perh. akin to E. fang, fair, a.; cf. OF. fie, flu, feu, fleu, fief, F. fief, from German, of the same origin. the sense fief is due to the French. √249. Cf. Feud, Fief, Fellow, Pecuniary. ]
Once did she hold the gorgeous East in fee. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]
To plead for love deserves more fee than hate. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
☞ All the land in England, except the crown land, is of this kind. An absolute fee, or fee simple, is land which a man holds to himself and his heirs forever, who are called tenants in fee simple. In modern writers, by fee is usually meant fee simple. A limited fee may be a qualified or base fee, which ceases with the existence of certain conditions; or a conditional fee, or fee tail, which is limited to particular heirs. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]
Fee estate (Eng. Law),
Fee farm (Law),
Fee farm rent (Eng. Law),
Fee fund (Scot. Law),
Fee simple (Law),
Fee tail (Law),
v. t.
The patient . . . fees the doctor. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]
There's not a one of them but in his house
I keep a servant feed. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
a.
Carried all the feeble of them upon asses. 2 Chron. xxviii. 15. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. t. To make feble; to enfeeble. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
Shall that victorious hand be feebled here? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. Weak in intellectual power; wanting firmness or constancy; irresolute; vacillating; imbecile. “comfort the feeble-minded.” 1 Thess. v. 14.
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n. severe mental deficiency.
n. The quality or condition of being feeble; debility; infirmity. [ 1913 Webster ]
That shakes for age and feebleness. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
adv. In a feeble manner. [ 1913 Webster ]
The restored church . . . contended feebly, and with half a heart. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. t.
If thine enemy hunger, feed him. Rom. xii. 20. [ 1913 Webster ]
Unreasonable creatures feed their young. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
Feeding him with the hope of liberty. Knolles. [ 1913 Webster ]
Thou shalt feed my people Israel. 2 Sam. v. 2. [ 1913 Webster ]
Mightiest powers by deepest calms are fed. B. Cornwall. [ 1913 Webster ]
Once in three years feed your mowing lands. Mortimer. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. i.
Her kid . . . which I afterwards killed because it would not feed. De Foe. [ 1913 Webster ]
Leaving thy trunk for crows to feed upon. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
If a man . . . shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man's field. Ex. xxii. 5. [ 1913 Webster ]