2. A league; a confederacy; a federal or confederated government. Burke.
FEDERATIVE
Fed"er*a*tive, a. Etym: [Cf. F. fédératif.]
Defn: Uniting in a league; forming a confederacy; federal. "A federative society." Burke.
FEDITY
Fed"i*ty, n. Etym: [L. foeditas, fr. foedus foul, fikthy.]
Defn: Turpitude; vileness. [Obs.] Bp. Hall.
FEE Fee, n. Etym: [OE. fe, feh, feoh, cattle, property, money, fiet, AS. feoh cattle, property, money; the senses of "property, money," arising from cattle being used in early times as a medium of exchange or payment, property chiefly consisting of cattle; akin to OS. feuh cattle, property, D. vee cattle, OHG. fihu, fehu, G. vieh, Icel. f cattle, property, money, Goth. faíhu, L. pecus cattle, pecunia property. money, Skr. pa cattle, perh. orig., "a fastened or tethered animal," from a root signifying to bind, and perh. akin to E. fang, fair, a.; cf. OF. fie, flu, feu, fleu, fief, F. fief, from German, of the same origin. the sense fief is due to the French. Feud, Fief, Fellow, Pecuniary.]
1. property; possession; tenure. "Laden with rich fee." Spenser. Once did she hold the gorgeous East in fee. Wordsworth.
2. Reward or compensation for services rendered or to be rendered; especially, payment for professional services, of optional amount, or fixed by custom or laws; charge; pay; perquisite; as, the fees of lawyers and physicians; the fees of office; clerk's fees; sheriff's fees; marriage fees, etc. To plead for love deserves more fee than hate. Shak.
3. (Feud. Law)
Defn: A right to the use of a superior's land, as a stipend for services to be performed; also, the land so held; a fief.