Etymograph

English

feud

Feud comes from Northern Middle English fede ‘a severe hate or antipathy’, from Old French faide ‘a feud’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- ‘to be angry, hostile, evil’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peyḱ-1‘to be angry, hostile, evil’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*faihaz2‘hostile’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*faih3‘hostile’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*faihiþu4‘hatred, enmity’reconstructed
  5. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500faida5
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400faide4‘a feud’
  7. Northern Middle Englishmodernfede4‘a severe hate or antipathy’
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1602feud4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *faihaz
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *faih
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *faihiþu
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English feud
  5. 5 Wiktionary, Old French faide
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida: “Wherein my sword had not impressure made / Of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peyḱ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *faihaz‘to be angry, hostile, evil’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*faihazWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *faih‘hostile’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*faihWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *faihiþu‘hostile’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*faihiþuWiktionary, English feud‘hatred, enmity’reconstructed
  5. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500faidaWiktionary, Old French faide
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400faideWiktionary, English feud‘a feud’
  7. Northern Middle EnglishmodernfedeWiktionary, English feud‘a severe hate or antipathy’
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1602feudWiktionary, English feud. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida: “Wherein my sword had not impressure made / Of…”

Formed from foe + -th

Proto-Germanic *faihaz

…

Old English fāh ‘hostile’

Old English ġefāh ‘enemy’

Middle English ifa

Middle English fo

English foe

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- ‘to be angry, hostile, evil’

picture, fish, file, paint, pint, depiction, depict, pigment, pictorial, pimento, piscina, 26 more

through Proto-West Germanic *faih ‘hostile’

foe

through Northern Middle English fede ‘a severe hate or antipathy’

feed

Another origin of feud

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peḱ-‘livestock’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*péḱu‘livestock’reconstructed*u-stem of *peḱ-
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fehu‘livestock, cattle’reconstructed
  4. Frankishc. 250–700*fehu‘livestock, cattle’reconstructed
  5. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500feudum‘a fief, fee’
  6. Englishtodayfeud

Today it means

noun A state of long-standing mutual hostility.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “feud”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *faihaz, Proto-West Germanic *faih, Proto-West Germanic *faihiþu, Old French faide. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- / feud

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