from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Fee \Fee\ (f[=e]), n. [OE. fe, feh, feoh, cattle, property,
money, fief, 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. fehu cattle, property, D.
vee cattle, OHG. fihu, fehu, G. vieh, Icel. f[=e] cattle,
property, money, Goth. fa['i]hu, L. pecus cattle, pecunia
property, money, Skr. pa[,c]u 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. [root]249. Cf. {Feud},
{Fief}, {Fellow}, {Pecuniary}.]
1. property; possession; tenure. "Laden with rich fee."
--Spenser.
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Once did she hold the gorgeous East in fee.
--Wordsworth.
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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.
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To plead for love deserves more fee than hate.
--Shak.
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3. (Feud. Law) 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.
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4. (Eng. Law) An estate of inheritance supposed to be held
either mediately or immediately from the sovereign, and
absolutely vested in the owner.
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Note: All the land in England, except the crown land, is of
this kind. An absolute fee, or fee simple, is land
which a man holds to himself and his heirs forever, who
are called tenants in fee simple. In modern writers, by
fee is usually meant fee simple. A limited fee may be a
qualified or base fee, which ceases with the existence
of certain conditions; or a conditional fee, or fee
tail, which is limited to particular heirs.
--Blackstone.
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5. (Amer. Law) An estate of inheritance belonging to the
owner, and transmissible to his heirs, absolutely and
simply, without condition attached to the tenure.
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{Fee estate} (Eng. Law), land or tenements held in fee in
consideration or some acknowledgment or service rendered
to the lord.
{Fee farm} (Law), land held of another in fee, in
consideration of an annual rent, without homage, fealty,
or any other service than that mentioned in the feoffment;
an estate in fee simple, subject to a perpetual rent.
--Blackstone.
{Fee farm rent} (Eng. Law), a perpetual rent reserved upon a
conveyance in fee simple.
{Fee fund} (Scot. Law), certain court dues out of which the
clerks and other court officers are paid.
{Fee simple} (Law), an absolute fee; a fee without conditions
or limits.
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Buy the fee simple of my life for an hour and a
quarter. --Shak.
{Fee tail} (Law), an estate of inheritance, limited and
restrained to some particular heirs. --Burill.
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