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feud

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feud¹

  • /fjuːd/ UK
  • /fjʉwd/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /fjud/ US
  • /fjʉːd/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /fjʉd/ Northern Ireland, Scotland
  • /fɪʊd/ Wales
  • /fɛʊ̯d/ Early Modern
  • /fɪʊ̯d/ Early Modern

Rhymes with -uːd

Where it comes from

Inherited from Northern Middle English fede, feide, from Old French faide, feide, fede, from Proto-West Germanic *faihiþu (“hatred, enmity”) (corresponding to foe + -th), from Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- (“hostile”).

Cognate to Old English fǣhþ, fǣhþu, fǣhþo (“hostility, enmity, violence, revenge, vendetta”), German Fehde, and Dutch vete (“feud”) (directly inherited from Proto-West Germanic) alongside Danish fejde (“feud, enmity, hostility, war”) and Swedish fejd (“feud, controversy, quarrel, strife”) (borrowed from Middle Low German).

noun feuds · fead · feaud · fede · feood · fewd

  1. A state of long-standing mutual hostility. You couldn't call it a feud exactly, but there had always been a chill between Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods.
  2. A staged rivalry between wrestlers.
  3. historical, obsolete A combination of kindred to avenge injuries or affronts, done or offered to any of their blood, on the offender and all his race.

verb feuds · feuding · feuded · fead · feaud

  1. intransitive To carry on a feud. The two men began to feud after one of them got a job promotion and the other thought he was more qualified.

feud²

  • /fjuːd/ UK
  • /fjʉwd/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /fjud/ US
  • /fjʉːd/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /fjʉd/ Northern Ireland, Scotland
  • /fɪʊd/ Wales
  • /fɛʊ̯d/ Early Modern
  • /fɪʊ̯d/ Early Modern

Rhymes with -uːd

Where it comes from

From Medieval Latin feudum. Doublet of fee, fief, and feoff.

noun feuds · feod

  1. An estate granted to a vassal by a feudal lord in exchange for service.

    Similar: fee, fief

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: vendetta, dispute, contest, quarrel, bickering, conflict, strife, hostile, enmity, antagonism, animosity, hostility, revenge, vengeance, hatred, fray

Translations

Every language

noun A state of long-standing mutual hostility

Españolrivalidad, pelea, enemistad, hostilidad, contienda, pleito
日本語確執 kakushitsu, フェーデ fēde
中文爭執 /争执 zhēngzhí, 世仇 shìchóu
Portuguêsrixa
Françaisquerelle, dispute, faide
DeutschFehde, Streit, Feindschaft
Italianofaida
Ελληνικάέριδα érida
Русскийраздо́р razdór, разла́д razlád, вражда́ vraždá, междоусо́бица meždousóbica

verb to carry on a feud

Françaisse disputer, se quereller
Deutschsich befehden
Русскийвраждова́ть vraždovátʹ

noun estate granted to a vassal

Españolfeudo
Portuguêsfeudo
Françaisfief
DeutschLehen
Italianofeudo
Ελληνικάφέουδο féoudo
Românăfeudă
Русскийфеод feod, лен len
العربيةإِقْطَاعَة ʔiqṭāʕa

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MLA

"feud." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/feud. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

feud. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/feud

Chicago

"feud." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/feud.

BibTeX
@misc{feud_2026,
  title = {feud},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/feud},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}