English
fee
Fee comes from Old English feoh ‘cattle, property, money’, from Proto-Germanic *fehu ‘livestock’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- ‘livestock’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peḱ-‘livestock’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*péḱu‘livestock’reconstructed*u-stem of *peḱ-
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fehu‘livestock’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fehu‘livestock’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150feoh‘cattle, property, money’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fee
- Englishearliest quotation 1596fee
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peḱ-‘livestock’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*péḱu‘livestock’reconstructed*u-stem of *peḱ-
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fehu‘livestock’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fehu‘livestock’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150feoh‘cattle, property, money’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fee
- Englishearliest quotation 1596fee
Earliest quotation: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book IV, Canto X: “For though sweet love to conquer glorious bee, /…”
Linked words
pairs
- fee and pecuniary both from Proto-Indo-European *péḱu ‘livestock’
through Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- ‘livestock’
fight, fellow, peculiar, fax, fawn, fain, 25 more
through Proto-Indo-European *péḱu ‘livestock’
cynical, hound, poodle, feudal, cynic, pec, chenille, 12 more
through Proto-Germanic *fehu ‘livestock, cattle’
Today it means
noun An amount charged in return for permission to do something
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- / fee