| 释义 |
▪ I. † fee, n.1 Obs.
Forms: 1 fioh, féo, 1—3 feoh, 3–4 feo, 3 south. veo, 2–3 feh, 2 Orm. fehh, 2–6 fe, (3 fæi, feih), 5–7 fie, (6 Sc. fye), 3–7 fee.
[Common Teut. and Aryan: OE. feoh, fioh, féo, str. neut., corresp. to OFris. fia, OS. fehu cattle, property (Du. vee cattle), OHG. fihu, fehu cattle, property, money (MHG. vihe, vehe, and mod.Ger. vieh has only the sense cattle), ON. fé cattle, property, money (Da. fæ cattle, beast, Sw. fä beast), Goth. faihu property, money:—OTeut. *fehu:—OAryan *péku-, whence also Skr. paçu masc., L. pecū neut. cattle (cf. L. pecūnia money).]
1. Live stock, cattle, whether large or small. wild fee: deer.
c900K. ælfred Laws xlii, Gif þe becume oðres monnes ᵹiemeleas fioh on hand..ᵹecyðe hit him. a1000Salomon & Sat. 23 (Gr.) Feoh butan ᵹewitte. c1250Gen. & Ex. 783 Ðo sente he after abram..And gaf him lond, and aȝte, and fe. a1300Cursor M. 1059 (Cott.) Þis abel was a hird for fee. 1375Barbour Bruce x. 151 Ane That husband ves, and vith his fee Oftsis hay to the peill led he. c1450Henryson Mor. Fab. 80 The keiper of the fie For verie woe woxe wanner nor the weid. a1500True Thomas 67 in Jamieson Pop. Ballads II. 15, I ride after the wilde fee; My raches rennen at my devys. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 343 Distroyit war all bowis, flokis and fie.
2. Movable property in general; goods, possessions, wealth.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xiv. §2 Þa unᵹesceadwisan neotena ne wilniaþ nanes oþres feos. c1000Ags. Ps. cviii. [cix.] 11 His feoh onfon fremde handa. c1175Lamb. Hom. 109 Þe feorðe unþeu is þet þe riche mon..bihude his feh. c1205Lay. 4429 Þe king him ȝette..feoh & færde. c1275A Luue Ron 70 in O.E. Misc. (1872) 95 Cesar riche of wordes feo. c1330Arth. & Merl. 418 He..bad he schuld cum him to help And he schuld haue half his fe. c1460Towneley Myst. 28 Do get in oure gere, oure catalle and fe, In to this vesselle here. 1526Skelton Magnyf. 1993 Alasse, where is nowe my golde and fe? 1596Drayton Legends iv. 74 Whose labour'd Anvile only was His Fee.
3. Money.
Beowulf 1380 Ic þe þa fæhðe feo leaniᵹe. c870Codex Aureus 5 in O.E. Texts (1885) 175 Mid uncre claene feo. c900Bæda's Eccl. Hist. iii. xiv. [xix.] (1891) 216 Forðon ᵹif þu þisses monnes fea [pecunia] in his synnum deades ne onfenge, ne burne his wiite on þe. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. x. 9 Næbbe ᵹe gold ne seolfer ne feoh on eowrum bigyrdlum. c1175Lamb. Hom. 91 Þa..salden heore ehte and þet feh bitahten þam apostles. c1200Ormin 15968 He selleþþ Haliȝ Gast forr fe. c1205Lay. 9176 He miðte æt-halden heore feoh þe Julius her fatte. a1225Ancr. R. 326 Vor sunne is þes deofles feih þet he ȝiueð to gauel. a1300Floriz & Bl. 25 Floriz ne let for ne feo To finden al þat neod beo. c1425Wyntoun Cron. vii. viii. 754 Corrupte..wyth þe kyng of Inglandis Fe. 1677Lovers Quarrel 30 in Hazl. E.E.P. II. 254 God give you good of your gold, she said, And ever God give you good of your fee.
4. Comb. fee-house, (a) in OE., a treasury, (b) a cattle-shed.
c1000ælfric's Voc. Sup. in Wr.-Wülcker 184 Þrarium, feohhus. 1483Cath. Angl. 125/1 A Feehouse, bostar.
▪ II. fee, n.2|fiː|
Forms: 4–5 fe, feo, fey, 6 fie, 3– fee. pl. 3 fez, 3–4 feez, 5 fese, 5–6 feeze, 6 feas, feis, 4– fees. See also feu, feud n.2, fief n.
[a. AF. fee, fie = OF. fé, fié, *fiet (app. implied in fiez pl.), fief, fieu, fiu, Pr. feo, feu, fieu, It. fio (prob. from Fr. or Pr.; the Langobardic Lat. faderfium is a compound of Teut. fehu fee n.1), med.L. feodum, feudum (first cited by Du Cange from a charter of Charles the Fat, a.d. 884), also fevum, feum, fedium, in Sicily fegum.
The mutual relation of the various Romanic and med.L. forms is somewhat obscure. According to some scholars, fief is a vbl. n. f. fiever to grant in fee, f. fieu, which, as well as the other forms of the n., descends from feodum or its Teut. source. The ultimate etymology is uncertain. A prevalent view is that the word is f. OHG. fehu cattle, property, money (= fee n.1), + ôd wealth, property. This must be rejected, because such an etymology could directly yield no other sense than that of ‘movable property’, which is very remote from the sense of feodum as used in early records, viz. usufruct granted in requital of service (often opposed to alodis, originally meaning ‘inheritance’); cf. the synonyms, Ger. lehen, OE. lǽn (the same word as Eng. loan), and L. beneficium, i.e. something granted to a subject by the kindness of his lord. A more tenable theory is that the OF. fiu is an adoption of the Teut. fehu in the contextual sense of ‘wages, payment for service’; the Rom. word certainly had this meaning (see branch II below), and it is conceivable that the feudal sense is a specific application of it. The d of the L. forms, feudum, feodum, however, is left unexplained by this hypothesis; some regard it as a euphonic insertion (comparing It. chiodo nail from vulgar L. *clo-um from clavum); others think that it is due to the analogy of allodium; and others suppose feudum to be a vbl. n. f. feudare = feum dare; but each of these views involves serious difficulties. It is not impossible that two originally distinct words may have been confused. A conjecture proposed by Prof. Kern, and approved by some German jurists, is that feodum represents an OHG. *fehôd, related to the vb. fehôn, which is recorded only in the sense ‘to eat, feed upon’, but is supposed on etymological grounds to have had the wider meaning ‘to take for one's enjoyment’. This would account fairly well for the sense, but involves too much hypothesis to be accepted with confidence. It is curious, if the word be of Teut. formation, that there is no direct proof of its having existed in any Teut. language, nor is it found even in the L. text of the Frankish laws.]
I.
1. a. Feudal Law. An estate in land (in England always a heritable estate), held on condition of homage and service to a superior lord, by whom it is granted and in whom the ownership remains; a fief, feudal benefice. † to take (a person's) fee: to become his vassal. Now only Hist.
ecclesiastical fee (L. feodum ecclesiasticum): one held by an ecclesiastical person or corporation, and not owing any but spiritual service. knight's fee, lay fee: see knight n., lay a.
[1292Britton iii. ii. §1 Plusours maneres des feez sount et de tenures.] c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 63 Þerfor vnto þam tuo he gaf Griffyns feez. c1400Melayne 1371 Allas..That ever I tuke thi fee! 1473J. Warkworth Chron. 23 A generalle resumpcion of alle lordschippes..and feys grawntede be the Kynge. 1767Blackstone Comm. II. 105 Feodum, or fee, is that which is held of some superior, on condition of rendering him service. 1836Baines Hist. Lanc. III. 204 The great fee or lordship of Pontefract was vested in them. 1844Williams Real Prop. (1877) 43 The word fee anciently meant any estate feudally held of another person. 1863H. Cox Instit. ii. xi. 583 [Of the Counties Palatine] there remain now only those of Lancaster and Durham..the latter formerly an ecclesiastical fee belonging to the Bishop of Durham.
b. Phrases, (as) in or of fee (= L. in, de feudo, ut in feudo): by a heritable right subject to feudal obligations. Now only Hist. Also transf. and fig.
[1292Britton i. xxi. §4 Autres qe il ne avoint en lour demeyne cum de fee.] c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 86 William þe Conqueror his ancestres & he Held with grete honour Normundie in fe Of alle kynges of France. c1470Henry Wallace x. 977 Schyr Amer hecht he suld it haiff in hyr Till hald in fe and othir landis mo. 1491Act 7 Hen. VII, c. 12 §5 That every recovery so had be as gode..as if the King were seised of the premises in his demesne as of fee. 1494Fabyan Chron. vi. ccxvii. 236 To..holde it [the lande] of hym as in fee. 1587Golding De Mornay xx. 305 Sith we hold all things of him [God] in fee, we owe him fealty and homage. 1852C. M. Yonge Cameos (1877) II. v. 57 The sovereignty of the provinces he now held in fee were made over to him.
2. a. Common Law. An estate of inheritance in land. Also in phrases as in 1 b. (A fee is either a fee-simple or a fee-tail; but in fee is usually = ‘in fee-simple’.)
In Eng. Law theoretically identical with sense 1, all landed property being understood to be held feudally of the Crown. In the U.S. the holder of the fee is in theory as well as in fact the absolute owner of the land.
1535Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 700 The baronie he gaif To Durhame kirk in heretage and fie. 1628Coke On Litt. iii. iv. §293. 189 It is to be vnderstood that when it is said..that a man is seised in fee..it shall be intended in fee simple. 1764Burn Poor Laws 184 To purchase lands in fee. 1809J. Marshall Const. Opin. (1839) 126 Peck..covenanted that Georgia..was legally the owner in fee of the land in question. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) I. 160 If a woman, tenant in tail general, makes a feoffment in fee, and takes back an estate in fee. Ibid. VI. 265 Here the fee was expressly given to the trustees. 1827Jarman Powell's Devises II. 149 An estate of which the devisor was mortgagee in fee. 1844Williams Real Prop. (1879) 43 A fee may now be said to mean an estate of inheritance. 1858Polson Law & L. 197 Seized in fee.
b. fig. esp. in phrase to hold in fee, to hold as one's absolute and rightful possession.
a1553Udall Royster D. iii. iv. (Arb.) 52 One madde propretie these women haue in fey, When ye will, they will not. 1639G. Daniel Ecclus. xxiv. 64 My ffee [A.V. inheritance] Is sweeter then Virgin-Combes. a1674Milton Sonn. xii, Which after held the sun and moon in fee. 1802Wordsw. On Extinction Venet. Rep., Once did she hold the gorgeous East in fee. 1846Trench Mirac. Introd. (1862) 38 Powers..such rather as were evidently his own in fee. 1850Tennyson In Mem. lxxix. I know thee of what force thou art To hold the costliest love in fee.
c. base fee: see base a. 11. Also (see quot.).
1883F. Pollock Land Laws 108 The curious kind of estate created by the conveyance in fee-simple of a tenant in tail not in possession, without the concurrence of the owners of estates preceding his own, is called a base fee.
d. In s.w. dialect. (See quots.)
c1630Risdon Surv. Devon §91 (1810) 87 This town consisteth of three parts, the fee, the manor, and the borough; the fee is of such freeholders and gentlemen as do dwell in Devonshire. 1880W. Cornw. Gloss., Fee, freehold property. ‘Our house is fee’.
e. at a pin's fee: at the value of a pin.
1602Shakes. Ham. i. iv. 65, I doe not set my life at a pin's fee. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. VI. xvi. x. 260 The present Editor does not..value the rumour at a pin's fee.
3. A territory held in fee; a lordship.
[1292Britton iii. ii. §1 Qe les seignurs des fez eyent les gardes de lour feez.] 1413Lydg. Pilgr. Sowle iv. xxvi. (1483) 72 Vnder thy lord god as chyef lord of the fee. c1430Syr Tryam. 1056, Xij fosters..that were kepars of that fee. 15..Adam Bel 56 in Hazl. E.P.P. II. 162 Forty fosters of the fe These outlawes had y-slaw. 1741T. Robinson Gavelkind v. 49 The Tenements within the Fee were not departible. 1851Turner Dom. Archit. II. Introd. 20 It [the castle] was the chief place of his honour or fee. 1869Lowell Singing Leaves 84 My lute and I are lords of more Than thrice this kingdom's fee.
transf.13..E.E. Allit. P. B. 960 Þat folk þat in þose fees [cities of the Plain] lenged. c1425Wyntoun Cron. vi. ii. 49 Sum hethyn man..Mycht usurpe Crystyn Feys.
†4.
a. The heritable right to an office of profit, granted by a superior lord and held on condition of feudal homage. Only in phrases in, of, to fee.
b. The heritable right to a pension or revenue similarly granted. Obs.
a. [1292Britton i. xii. §9 Et defendoms a touz ceux qi cleyment aver garde des prisouns en fee.] 1375Barbour Bruce xi. 456 Schir robert of Keth..wes Marshall of all the host of fee. c1470Henry Wallace vii. 1026 In heretage gaiff him office to fee Off all Straithern and schirreiff off the toun. 1670Blount Law Dict. s.v., The word Fee is sometimes used..for a perpetual right incorporeal; as to have the keeping of Prisons..in Fee. 1700tr. Charter of Edw. I, in Tyrell Hist. Eng. II. 820 No Forester..who is not a Forester in Fee..shall take Chiminage.
b. [1292Britton ii. x. §2 Une autre manere de purchaz est que home fet de annuel fee de deners ou de autre chose en fee.] 1823Crabb Technol. Dict., Fee..a rent or annuity granted to one, and his heirs, which is a fee personal.
†5.
a. Homage rendered, or fealty promised, by a vassal to a superior. Also, employment, service.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 145 Þe moneth of Nouembre..com kyng William..& þer ȝald him his fee. 1486Certificate in Surtees Misc. (1890) 49, I..accept hyme to be of my fee and counesell. 1596Spenser F.Q. vi. x. 21 Venus Damzels, all within her fee.
†b. to be at a, in fee of, to, with: to be in the pay or service of, under an obligation to; hence, to be in league with. Also, to have (one) in fee: to retain, hold in one's service. Obs.
1529S. Fish Supplic. Beggars 8 Are not all the lerned men in your realme in fee with theim. 1590Webbe Trav. (Arb.) 34 Beeing then in yeerely fee to the King of Spaine. 1600Holland Livy xlii. v. (1609) 1118 In fee as it were with him, in regard of many courtesies and gracious favours received at his hands. 1633Bp. Hall Hard Texts 324 As if ye were at a fee with death and Hell. 1703T. N. City & C. Purchaser 208 Some of those Bricklayers that are in Fee with 'em. 1756Nugent Gr. Tour IV. 33 He will endeavour to carry you to his own favourite house, which has him in fee.
II. Denoting a payment or gift.[This branch is commonly referred to fee n.1, but the AF. is fee, and the med.L. feodum, both in England and on the continent; cf. It. fio. The two ns., however, being coincident in form, were certainly confused, and in many instances it makes no difference to the sense whether the word is taken as n.1 or as n.2 Senses 6–8 seem to have been influenced by branch I; sense 9 agrees with a continental use of feodum.] †6. A tribute or offering to a superior. Obs.
c1369Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 266 This..god..May winne of me mo fees thus Than ever he wan. a1400–50Alexander 4466 Þan fall ȝe flatt on þe fold, with fees þaim adoures. Ibid 5139 Foure hundreth fellis ȝit to fee. 1602Dekker Satiromastix Wks. 1873 I. 253 Knees Are made for kings, they are the subjects Fees.
7. a. The sum which a public officer (? originally, one who held his office ‘in fee’: see 4 a) is authorized to demand as payment for the execution of his official functions.
[1292Britton i. xii. §7 Ne ja par defaute de tiel fee ne soit nul prisoun plus detenu.] c1450Bk. Curtasye 598 in Babees Bk. (1868) 319 Sex pons þer-fore to feys he takes. 1494Nottingham Rec. III. 279 To the Chaumberlens for theire fese xxvjs. viijd. 1529Act 21 Hen. VIII, c. 5 §6 Any such Ordynary..shall nat in any wyse take for the same above the fees lymytted by this Acte. 1546Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 25 To the Auditor for his Fee xiiijs. iiijd. 1581Lambarde Eiren. iii. i. (1588) 333 Two Justices of Peace, may license such as be delivered out of Gaoles, to beg for their fees. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 217, I should rob the Deaths-man of his Fee. 1609Skene Reg. Maj. 2 The fie of the seale, ten pounds. 1680Tryal & Sent. Eliz. Cellier 18, I came to pay the Clerk of the Council his Fees..I was obliged to pay the Fees my self at the Council. 1727Swift Descr. Morning, The turnkey now his flock returning sees, Duly let out a-nights to steal for fees. 1817W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 936 The captain had paid an extra fee in order to procure his clearances. 1858Kingsley Poems, Earl Haldan's Dau. 6 The locks of six princesses Must be my marriage fee. 1868Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) II. x. 471 The greedy secular clergy refused the first sacrament except on payment of a fee.
b. Extended to denote the remuneration paid or due to a lawyer, a physician, or (in recent use) any professional man, a director of a public company, etc. for an occasional service.
1583Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 16 The lawiers I would wish to take lesse fees of their clients. 1644Milton Educ. Wks. (1847) 99/1 Litigious terms, fat contentions, and flowing fees. 1655Culpepper Riverius Epigram, Who spend Their Life in Visits, and whose Labors end in taking Fees. 1727–38Gay Fables ii. ix. 21 The fee gives eloquence its spirit. 1791Boswell Johnson an. 1784 (1847) 800/2 Physicians..generously attended him without accepting any fees. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. vi. 34 What fee, doctor..shall I give you for saving his life? 1863P. Barry Dockyard Econ. 48 Few of them [Lawyers] are proof against a fee. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits, Voy. Eng. Wks. II. 11 The remuneration [for public lectures] was equivalent to the fees at that time paid in this country for the like services.
c. The sum paid for admission to an examination, a society, etc.; or for entrance to a public building. Also, admission-fee, court fee, entrance-fee.
1389in Eng. Gilds (1870) 88 He schal..payen his fees and sythyn for hys entres. 1891Cambridge Univ. Calendar 22 A fee of {pstlg}2 2s. is paid to the Common Chest by every student on each admission to a Special Examination. 1893Oxford Univ. Calendar 30 University Museum. Open..to visitors (without fee) from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
d. Terminal payments for instruction at school.
1616R. C. Times' Whistle iv. 1428 For duble fees A dunce may turne a Doctour. 1841W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. III. 358 Private schools are taught, for small fees, by..priests. 1876Grant Burgh Sch. Scotl. ii. 467 In 1746 the council [of Kirkcaldy] enact that the fees shall be paid quarterly.
†8.
a. A perquisite allowed to an officer or servant (esp. a forester, a cook or scullion). fee of a bullock: see quot. 1730. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 945 Thus hath here lord..hem payed Here wages and here fees for here servise. 1474Househ. Ord. 32 The larders hath to theire fees the neckes of mutton twoe fingers from the heade. [a1490Botoner Itin. (Nasmith 1778) 371 Et ipse emebat de cocis lez feez.] 1486Bk. St. Albans F iv a, The Right shulder..Yeueth to the foster for that is his fee. 1557Order of Hospitalls H ij b, The Butler..You shall have no manner of Fees, but your ordinarie wages. 1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 831/2 The ofscouringes or fees of the kitchen. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. i. 23, I, heere's a Deere, whose skins a Keepers Fee. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 833 Certain young men..snatcht it [food] hastily up as their fees, and like greedie Harpies ravened it downe in a moment. 1730–6Bailey (folio), The Fee of a Bullock, the bones of a bullocks thighs and shoulders, having the meat cut off (but not clean) for salting for victualling ships.
†b. A warrior's share of spoil; a dog's share of the game. Obs.
c1340Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1622 He com gayn, His feez þer for to fonge. 14..Venery de Twety in Rel. Ant I. 153 The houndes shal be rewardid with the nekke and with the bewellis, with the fee. 1616Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 697 The hare being killed, it will be good to giue the dogs their fees, the better to incourage them.
transf.1659B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 101 The Clergy hath ever served as Fee, or prey to the seditious.
†c. Any allotted portion. Obs.
1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 73 Giue sheepe to their fees the mistle of trees. Ibid. 78 In pruning and trimming all maner of trees, reserue to ech cattel their properly fees. 1633G. Herbert Temple, Discharge v, Onely the present is thy part and fee. 1642H. More Song of Soul i. ii. xiii, There Psyche's feet impart a smaller fee Of gentle warmth.
9. A fixed salary or wage; the pay of a soldier. Also pl. Wages. Obs. exc. Sc. or Hist.
c1400Mandeville (1839) xv. 170 He that kepethe him [a sacred ox] hath every day grete fees. 1533Gau Richt Vay (1888) 16 They that haldis thair seruandis feis fra thayme. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 133 Men of weir that wald tak meit and fie. 1637–50Row Hist. Kirk (1842) 149 Mr. Bruce..hes 40 crounes monethlie for his intertainment, and 500 crounes of fie. 1686G. Stuart Joco-Ser. Disc. 26 Ye shall nev'r crave twice of me The smallest Penny of your Fee. 1724Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) II. 194 Her fee and bowntith in her lap. 1773Erskine Inst. Law Scot. iii. vi. §7. 507 Servants fees..being given that they may maintain themselves in a condition suitable to their service..cannot be arrested. a1810Tannahill Poems (1846) 103 For I hae wair'd my winter's fee. 1878Simpson Sch. Shaks. I. 10 Holding the post of King's standard-bearer, with the fee of six shillings and eight pence a day.
10.
†a. A prize, a reward. Obs.
c1400Destr. Troy 2400 The fairest of þo fele shull þat fe haue. c1470Henry Wallace xi. 460, ‘I wald fayn spek with the’ ..‘Thow may for litill fe.’ a1541Wyatt in Tottell's Misc. (Arb.) 81 Chance hath..to another geuen the fee Of all my losse to haue the gayn. 1596Spenser F.Q. iv. x. 3 Yet is the paine thereof much greater then the fee. 1605Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. ii. Fathers 91 Thy God, thy King, thy Fee, thy Fence I am. 1633G. Herbert Temple, Businesse viii, Two deaths had been thy fee.
b. An occasional gift, a gratuity, given in recognition of services rendered. Phrase, without fee or reward.
a1592Greene Geo.-a-Greene Wks. (Rtldg.) 267/1 Fetch me A stand of ale..this is for a fee to welcome Robin Hood. 1768Foote Devil on 2 Sticks 11, It is a part of the world where a fee is never refused. 1832W. Irving Alhambra II. 90 ‘God forbid’, said he, ‘that I should ask fee or reward for doing a common act of humanity’. 1863Hawthorne Our Old Home (1884) 145 The attendants..expect fees on their own private account. 1873Tristram Moab xv. 291 The not unacceptable fee of a kid-skin of fresh butter.
†c. In bad sense: A bribe. Obs.
1549Coverdale Erasm. Par. 2 Pet. ii. 15 Being corrupt with wicked fee. 1595Shakes. John ii. i. 170 Drawes those heauen-mouing pearles from his poor eies Which heauen shall take in nature of a fee. c1643Milton Sonn., To Lady Marg. Ley, Unstain'd with gold or fee.
III. attrib. and Comb.
11. General relations (in senses 7–10).
a. attrib., as fee-system, fee-table, fee-theatre.
b. objective, as fee-payer, fee-seeker; fee-catching vbl. n.; fee-charging, fee-checking, fee-gathering (also vbl. n.), fee-paying, fee-yielding adjs.c. instrumental, as fee-fed adj.
1810Bentham Packing vii. (1821) 184 A mere pretence for *fee-catching.
1897Daily News 2 Mar. 2/6 They did not know the number of *fee-charging schools..as distinguished from the general elementary system of the country. 1959I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. xiii. 298 The private fee-charging establishments.
1810Bentham Packing vii. (1821) 187 So *fee-checking an innovation.
1808― Sc. Reform 71 *Fee-fed lawyers always excepted.
Ibid. 9 The Technical or *Fee-gathering system. 1828Edin. Rev. XLVIII. 468 Fee-gathering is the real foundation on which the laws of England have been framed! 1832Austin Jurispr. (1879) II. xxxix. 703 The profession would not be merely venal and fee-gathering.
1931Times Educ. Suppl. 15 Aug. 321/2 The entrance examination for *fee-payers.
1893Daily News 12 July 5/1 *Fee-paying schools.
1890Ibid. 7 June 2/1 Lawyers and other *fee-seekers.
1891Ibid. 23 Nov. 2/1 The *fee system seems to me one of the most outrageous and indefensible.
1812J. Quincy in Life 244 If..we..mete out contributions for national safety by our *fee-tables.
1808Bentham Sc. Reform 8 Sale of a *fee-yielding office.
12. Special comb. † fee-buck, ? a buck received as a perquisite; fee-estate (see quot.); fee-expectant: see expectant a. 3, † fee-Gloucester, a Cornish tenure; fee-fund (see quot.); † fee-grief, a grief that has a particular owner; fee-liege (see liege); † fee-Morton, a Cornish tenure (cf. fee-Gloucester); † fee-penny, an earnest of a bargain; † fee-pie (in humorous phrase to eat fee pie, ? to receive bribes); fee-royal (see royal). Also fee-farm, fee-simple, fee-tail.
a1643W. Cartwright Siege iv. ii, You..Put of your Mercer with your *Fee-buck for That season.
1775Ash, *Fee-estate, lands or tenements for which some service..is paid to the chief lord.
1651tr. Kitchin's Jurisdictions (ed. 2) 301 If it [land in frank-marriage] were given to them in taile to have to them and their heirs, they have taile and *fee expectant.
1861W. Bell Dict. Law Scot., *Fee-fund..the dues of Court payable on the tabling of summonses..etc., out of which the..officers of the Court are paid.
1602Carew Cornwall 38 b, They pay in most places onely fee-Morton releefes which is after fiue markes the whole Knights fee..whereas that of *fee-Gloucester is fiue pound.
1605Shakes. Macb. iv. iii. 196 Is it a *Fee-griefe Due to some single brest?
1695G. Ridpath (title) Sir T. Craig's Scotland's Soveraignty Asserted..against those who maintain that Scotland is a Feu, or *Fee-Liege of England.
1602Carew Cornwall 38 b, *Fee-Morton..so called of John Earle first of Morton.
1552T. Gresham in Strype Eccl. Mem. II. App. C. 147 When the Kings Majesties father did first begin..to take up mony upon interest..he took his *feepeny in merchandize.
a1640Day Peregr. Schol. (1881) 72 Saieing he was a wise Justice to eate *fee-pie with his clarke.
1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 145/2 He gaf to them..the *fee ryall of that buscage.
Add:[II.] [7.] e. spec. = transfer fee (b) s.v. transfer n. 5. Assoc. Football.
1899J. C. Clegg Let. 10 Mar. in G. Green Hist. Football Assoc. (1954) ix. 406, I send the following suggestions... That no larger fee shall be demanded than the amounts paid by the clubs on acquiring players. 1935F. Wall 50 Yrs. Football xii. 132 Prior to the War it was generally believed that Manchester City paid the highest fee, {pstlg}2,500 to Derby County for Horace Barnes, on May 12, 1914. 1980Guinness Bk. Records 272/1 The record fee received by a British club was {pstlg}1 million by Birmingham City from Nottingham Forest for Trevor John Francis.
▪ III. † fee, n.3 Obs.
Also 5 fey.
[a. OF. fee, feie (F. foie).]
The liver.
14..Noble Bk. Cookry (1882) 96 Tak and dight the pouche and the fee of a pik. c1450Two Cookery-bks. (1888) 101 Kepe the fey or the lyuer, and kutte awey the gall.
▪ IV. fee, v.1|fiː|
Also Sc. 4–6 fey, 5–6 fei, 6 fie.
[f. fee n.2]
†I.
1. trans. ? To invest with a fief; ? to grant as a fief. Obs.—0
1483Cath. Angl. 124/2 To Fee, feoffare.
II. (From senses 7–10 of the n.)
2. trans. To give a fee to. to fee away (nonce-use): to induce by a fee to go away.
a1529Skelton Ware the Hauke 151 So the Scribe was feed. 1601? Marston Pasquil & Kath. i. 278 He that fees me best, speeds best. 1716Swift Phillis, Suppose all parties now agreed, The writings drawn, the lawyer fee'd. 1803Med. Jrnl. IX. 62 The Governor and a few others..chose to fee us for attendance in their respective families. 1806–7J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) iv. xxvii, You cannot drive or even fee them away as they are paid for torturing you by some barbarians at the next door. 1859All Year Round No. 35. 203, I had..feed the steward. 1884Times (weekly ed.) 12 Sept. 14/2 You must fee the waiter when you give the order.
absol.1806–7J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) v. xix, After having fee'd very high for places at Mrs. Siddon's benefit. 1884Times (weekly ed.) 12 Sept. 14/2 At the hotel the guest who does not fee in advance soon finds the zeal of the waiters fall off.
3. To engage for a fee; Sc. to hire, employ (servants, etc.); † transf. to make use of (an occasion).
c1470Henry Wallace ix. 40 Semen he feyt and gaiff thaim gudlye wage. 1529Lyndesay Compl. 39 The father of Fameill..Quhilk..Feit men to wyrk in his wyne ȝaird. a1572Knox Hist. Ref. i. Wks. 1846 I. 39 Greadynes of preastis not onlie receave false miracles, bot also thei cherise and fies knaiffs for that purpoise. 1598Shakes. Merry W. ii. ii. 204, I haue..fee'd euery slight occasion, that could but nigardly giue mee sight of her. 1701Penn in Pa. Hist. Soc. Mem. IX. 78 A lawyer sends me word he is offered to be feed against me. a1810Tannahill Poems (1846) 12 That day ye feed the skelpor Highland callan. 1806–7J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) xxi. xvi, Learning to box too—i.e. feeing a great raw-boned fellow to thresh you as long as he can stand over you. 1876Smiles Sc. Natur. viii. (ed. 4) 149 Young lads and lasses came in from the country to be feed, and farmers..came in to fee them.
†b. In a bad sense: To bribe. Obs.
1375Barbour Bruce v. 485 heading, Heire the Inglis knycht feys a tratour. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 515 How Nathologus feyit ane Man to follow Dorus..for to slay him. 1616R. C. Times' Whistle vi. 2537 Fee but the Sumner, and he shall not cite thee. 1727De Foe Protest. Monast. vii, Without Feeing the Journalists or Publishers. c1800K. White Clift. Gr. 318 Should honours tempt thee, and should riches fee.
4. intr. for refl. To hire oneself.
a1810Tannahill Poems (1846) 17 Blythe was the time when he fee'd wi' my Father, O, Happy war' the days when we herded thegither, O. 1875G. Macdonald Sir Gibbie xviii. 100 They would not fee to it [a situation] for any amount of wages.
▪ V. fee, v.2 Mining.
|fiː| See quot.
1883Gresley Gloss. Coal Mining, Fee, to load up the coal, etc., in a heading into tubs.
▪ VI. fee
var. of fay n.3 |