feoh

Old English

Alternative forms

• fioh, feh

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *fehu, from Proto-Germanic *fehu. Note that feoh must have transferred into the a-stems (and thus lost its -u) before loss of medial *h, or else it would be *fēo.

Cognates:

Germanic cognates include Old Frisian fia (West Frisian fee), Old Saxon fehu (Low German Veeh), Old Dutch fē (Dutch vee), Old High German fihu (German Vieh), Old Norse fé (Swedish fä), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌿 (faihu). The Indo-European root is also the source of Sanskrit पशु (páśu, “cattle”), Latin pecus, Old Armenian ասր (asr, “fleece”) and Lithuanian pēkus (“cattle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fe͜ox/

Noun

feoh n

1. money
   • c. 995, Ælfric, Extracts on Grammar in English

     Ēalā ġif iċ hæfde feoh.

     If only I had money.

2. livestock, cattle
   • c. 893, Alfred the Great, Doom Book

     Ġif þē becume ōðres mannes ġīemelēas feoh on hand, þēah hit sīe þīn fēond, ġecȳþ hit him.

     If you come across someone else's stray cattle, let them know, even if they are your enemy.

3. property
4. the runic character ᚠ (/f/)

Declension

Declension of feoh (strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	feoh	—
accusative	feoh	—
genitive	fēos	—
dative	fēo	—

Derived terms

• cwicfeoh
• feohgōd
• feohhūs
• feohland
• feohlufu
• feohlēas
• feohġerēfa
• feohġift
• feohġīfernes
• feohġīfre
• meldfeoh
• sundorfeoh
• þīefefeoh
• widufeoh

 

Descendants

• Middle English: feh, fe, fee (with Old French)
  • English: fee
  • Scots: fe, fee, fiel