Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Old French fede, Old French feide , fedde hostility, enmity, feud, armed conflict between families or clans motivated by a death (12th cent.) < a form in a West Germanic language cognate with Old English fǣhþ , fǣhþu , Old Frisian fāithe , fēithe (North Frisian veyde ), Middle Dutch vēde (Dutch vede , now archaic), Middle Low German vēde , Old High German (prefixed) gifēhida (Middle High German vēhede , vēde , German Fehde ), broadly in the meanings ‘enmity, hostility, feud, state of feuding’ < the Germanic base of foe adj. + the Germanic base of -th suffix¹. The α. forms are chiefly found in Scots sources after the end of the Middle English period. How the β. forms arose, and their relationship to the α. forms, has been much debated. By far the most convincing explanation that has been offered (see below) is that (in formal terms) they show developments from a variant of the distinct formation shown by foehood n., although the process may have begun with reanalysis of the α. forms, and it appears very likely that the two sets of forms were in all periods perceived as variants of the same word.Early writers frequently refer to the word (in its β. forms) as a northern word. In the north of England in the 16th cent., the reflex of Middle English fā , northern variant of foe adj. and foe n., would have shown pronunciations that overlapped with those of α. forms of the present word, perhaps leading to reanalysis of these as showing foe and a reduced form of the suffix -head suffix. This may have prompted the creation of an analogous fuller form *faihood (equivalent to southern foehood n.), which is perhaps (with loss of h ) reflected by the spellings feood and feode . The vocalism of a reduced form of *faihood would readily have been identified by southern speakers with the reflex of the Middle English diphthong eu (originally with open first element) which would (by regular sound change) give the modern form feud and pronunciation with /juː/ (compare the similar development probably shown by greund n. and by the place name Kew ). The spellings foode , food might similarly reflect a reduced form of foehood n., if they showed a variant pronunciation of the reflex of Middle English open ō as /uː/. For further details of this explanation of the form history of this word see E. J. Dobson in Review of English Studies 7 (1956) 52–4. In this connection it is perhaps interesting to note that in the mid 17th cent. W. Somner when discussing the origin of the word feud (in Gavelkind (1666) 107) invokes foe and (wrongly) -hood or -head in order to explain the etymology of the early Germanic word.

Etymology: < medieval Latin feudum, feodum: see fee n.²

Etymology: < feud n.¹