Legal Definition and Related Resources of Feud

In feudal law, is an estate in land held of superior on condition of rendering him services.

Land held of a superior on condition of rendering him services. 2 Bl. Comm. 106. A hereditary right to use lands, rendering services therefor to the lord, while the property in the land itself remains in the lord. Spelman, Feuds, c. 1. The same as feod, fief, and fee. 1 Sullivan, Lect. 128; 1 Spence, Eq. Jur. 34; Dalr. Feud. Prop. 99; 1 Washb. Real Prop. 18. In Scotland and the north of England, a combination of all the kin to revenge the death of any of the blood upon the slayer and all his race. Termes de la Ley; Whishaw.

noun

• alienation
• altercation
• animosity
• animus
• antagonism
• bitterness
• breach
• clash
• conflict
• contention
• controversy
• difference
• disaccord
• disagreement
• discord
• dispute
• dissension
• enmity
• estrangement
• faction
• grudge
• hereditary enmity
• hostility
• ill will
• incompatability
• inimicality
• inimicitia
• intolerance
• inveterate hatred
• inveterate strife
• malevolence
• mutual aversion
• odds
• open breach
• open quarrel
• opposition
• private war
• quarrel
• rancor
• rupture
• simultas
• split
• strain
• strife
• tension
• variance
• vendetta

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Feud in Historical Law

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This definition of Feud is based on the The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary . This entry needs to be proofread.

Vocabularies (Semantic Web Information)

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Feud in the Dictionary of Law consisting of Judicial Definitions and Explanations of Words, Phrases and Maxims

Latin fides, faith; and Teut. ead, odh, or od, property, estate in land, – or, vieh, cattle, property; i.e., land held on pecuniary consideration: A.S. feah, cattle. Land held of a superior, on condition of rendering him service. Opposed to allodium, the absolute or ultimate property, which continued to reside in the superior. 2 Bl. Com. 103. See Allodial. A tract of land held by a voluntary and gratuitous donation, on condition of fidelity and certain services. Wallace v. Harmstad, 44 Pa. 499 (1863). The constitution of feuds originated in the military policy of the Celtic nations, a policy which was continued in their acquisitions after the fall of the Roman empire. To secure those acquisitions, large districts of land were allotted by the conquering general to his superior officers, and by them, in smaller parcels, to the inferior officers and most deserving soldiers. These allottments were called feods, feoda, feoffs, feus, fiefs, fieus, and fees – conditional stipends or rewards. The condition annexed was, that the possessor should do service faithfully, at home and in war, to him by whom they were given; for which purpose he took the oath of fealty, and for a breach of this condition and oath, by not performing the stipulated service or by deserting the lord in battle, the lands were to revert to him who granted them. 2 Bl. Com. 45-46.

Note: This legal definition of Feud in the Dictionary of Law (English and American Jurisprudence) is from 1893.

Grammar

This term is a noun.

Etimology of Feud

(You may find feud at the world legal encyclopedia and the etimology of more terms).

c. 1300, fede “enmity, hatred, hostility,” northern English and Scottish, ultimately (via an unrecorded Old English word or Old French fede, faide “war, raid, hostility, hatred, enmity, feud, (legal) vengeance,” which is from Germanic) from Proto-Germanic *faihitho (compare Old High German fehida “contention, quarrel, feud”), noun of state from adjective *faiho- (source also of Old English fæh_ “enmity,” fah “hostile;” German Fehde “feud;” Old Frisian feithe “enmity”). This is from PIE root *peig- (2), also *peik- “evil-minded, hostile” (see foe). Sense of “vendetta” is early 15c. Alteration of spelling in 16c. is unexplained. Meaning “state of hostility between families or clans” is from 1580s.