feu

From Anglo-Norman fieu (“fief”).

• IPA^(key): /fjuː/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uː
• Homophone: few

feu (plural feus)

1. (Scots law, property law, historical) Land held in feudal tenure.

feu (third-person singular simple present feus, present participle feuing, simple past and past participle feued)

1. (Scots law, transitive) To bring (land) under the system of feudal tenure.
   • 1813, "Keith", Entry in Nicholas Carlisle, A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, Volume II, unnumbered page,

     The Village of OLD KEITH is of ancient date, having been partly feued by the predecessors of the Family of Forbes, and partly feued by the Ministers, and stands upon the glebe: this Village is greatly on the decline, and almost a ruin.—About the year 1750, the late Lord FINDLATER divided a barren Muir, and feued it out in small lots […] .

   • 1841, Alexander Dunlop, J. M. Bell, John Murray, James Donaldson (reporters), Cases Decided in the Court of Session, Volume 3, 2nd Series, page 620,

     The prohibition of feuing beyond a certain extent was clearly implied; […] .

   • 2001, Richard Rodger, “The Transformation of Edinburgh: Land, Property and Trust in the Nineteenth Century”, in Paperback, Cambridge University Press, published 2004, page 68:

     But in effect, whereas Heriot's knew that their feuing conditions were subordinate to the law of contract, the Earl of Moray knew by 1822 that as a result of the Lords' decision in 1818 estate development could not be controlled by contract law and the feuing plan. […] The impact on the Moray estate was that […] despite a recession in the Edinburgh property market generally after 1826, virtually the entire estate was feued by 1836.

• fegu (obsolete)
• feyu (Western Asturian)

From Latin foedus.

feu m sg (feminine singular fea, neuter singular feo, masculine plural feos, feminine plural fees)

1. ugly
2. bad, gloomy (weather)

Inherited from Old Catalan feu, from Vulgar Latin *feus, from Frankish *fehu, from Proto-Germanic *fehu.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈfew]

feu m (plural feus)

1. fiefdom, fee

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• feis (Balearic, second-person plural present and imperative only)
• faceu (Balearic, second-person plural subjunctive only)
• fé (Balearic, third-person singular preterite only)
• féu (pre-2016, third-person singular preterite only)

(second-person plural present, subjunctive, imperative)

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈfɛw]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈfəw]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈfew]

(third-person singular preterite)

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈfew]

feu

1. inflection of fer:
   1. second-person plural present indicative/subjunctive
   2. third-person singular preterite indicative
   3. second-person plural imperative

• (Alghero) IPA^(key): /ˈfɛw/

feu (feminine fea, masculine plural feus, feminine plural fees)

1. (Alghero) ugly
2. (Alghero) ungrateful
3. (Alghero) not good
4. (Alghero) morally bad

• “feu, -ea”, in Diccionari d'Alguerés, 21 May 2022 (last accessed)

• “feu”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “feu”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “feu” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “feu” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• IPA^(key): /fø/

• Audio:

  (file)

Inherited from Old French fu, from Latin focus (“hearth”), which in Late and Vulgar Latin replaced the Classical Latin ignis (“fire”).

feu m (plural feux)

1. fire

   As-tu remarqué que tes cheveux sont en feu ? ― Have you noticed that your hair is on fire?

2. (uncountable, informal) lighter, something to light a cigarette with

   Tu aurais du feu ? ― You got a light?

3. traffic light

   feux tricolores ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   feux de signalisation ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • 1999, Patrick Lemaire, Psychologie cognitive:

     « Si le feu est vert, je passe »
     « Si le feu est rouge, je m'arrête »

     ‘If the light is green, I go.’
     ‘If the light is red, I stop.’

4. headlights

   feux de croisement ― low-beams

   feux de route ― high-beams

   feux de position ― parking lights

   feux de détresse ― hazard lights

• foyer
• fouace
• fougasse

• → Karipúna Creole French: djife

Inherited from Old French feüz, fadude (“one who has accomplished his destiny”), from Vulgar Latin *fatutus, from Latin fatum (“destiny”).

feu (feminine feue, masculine plural feus, feminine plural feues)

1. deceased, the late

   Elle était la sœur de feu Jean Dupont

   She was the sister of the late Jean Dupont

   • 2025 (May 28), Joël-Denis Bellavance, "Discours du Trône: Un roi au service du Canada," La Presse:

     Le roi a souligné dans la portion qu’il a écrite que sa mère, feu la reine Élisabeth II, avait aussi lancé les travaux parlementaires il y a près de 70 ans.

     In the section [of the Throne Speech] that he wrote, the King emphasized that his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, had also launched the work of Parliament nearly 70 years ago.

• When feu is used as a normal attributive adjective, and therefore follows an article or possessive adjective, it varies for number and person: ma feue mère; les feus rois. However, feu can also precede an article or possessive adjective, in which case it has traditionally been treated as invariable: feu sa femme; feu madame Tremblay; feu ses mère et père. In the reformed grammar, treating it as variable in either case is now tolerated: feue ma tante. Feu cannot be a predicative adjective.
• Like the English "late," this adjective is usually only used with someone recently deceased. One would not say, e.g., feu Socrate except for humorous effect. Likewise, a form such as le feu pape would typically only be used to refer to the most recently deceased pope.
• Feu is increasingly restricted to formal or legal use; défunt or regretté are now more common: mon défunt père; le regretté monsieur Dupont.
• According to some authorities, the form with the invariable adjective, e.g. feu le pape, can only be used while the office in question remains vacant, although le feu pape could still be used once there is a new pope.

• “feu”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

feu

1. alternative form of fewe

From Old French fu.

feu m (plural feux)

1. fire

• French: feu

Inherited from Old French feüz, fadude (“one who has accomplished his destiny”), from Vulgar Latin *fatutus, from Latin fatum (“destiny”).

feu m (feminine singular feue, masculine plural feus, feminine plural feues)

1. deceased, the late

   Et pour satisfaire à la requeste de Villegagnon, apres que feu Monsieur l’Admiral, auquel pour le mesme effect il avoit aussi escrit[...]

   And in order to satisfy Villegagnon's request, after that the late Mister Admiral, to whom by the same reason he wrote too[...]

From Old French feu, from Latin focus (“hearth”).

• Audio (Jersey):

  (file)

feu m (plural feux)

1. (Jersey) fire
2. (Jersey, medicine) rash

Ultimately from Latin foedus. Compare Spanish feo.

feu

1. (Campidanese) dirty

From Old French fieu (“fief”).

• IPA^(key): [fjuː]

feu (plural feus)

1. (Scots law, property law) feud, tenure, piece of land held by that tenure

feu (third-person singular simple present feus, present participle feuin, simple past feuit, past participle feuit)

1. to grant or hold land by tenure

• feuar (“one who holds land in feu”)

From Latin focus.

• IPA^(key): /føː/

feu ?

1. fire