feud

feud
feud1
/fyoohd/, n.
1. Also called blood feud. a bitter, continuous hostility, esp. between two families, clans, etc., often lasting for many years or generations.
2. a bitter quarrel or contention: a feud between labor and management.
v.i.
3. to engage in a feud.
[1300-50; var. of fead (a misread as u), ME fede < MF fe(i)de < OHG fehida; c. OE faehth enmity. See FOE, -TH1]
Syn. 2. argument, difference.
feud2
/fyoohd/, n.
fee (def. 4).
[1605-15; < ML feudum, var. of feodum. See FEE]

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▪ private war
also called  blood feud 

      a continuing state of conflict between two groups within a society (typically kinship groups) characterized by violence, usually killings and counterkillings. It exists in many nonliterate communities in which there is an absence of law or a breakdown of legal procedures and in which attempts to redress a grievance in a way that is acceptable to both parties have failed.

      The feud is usually initiated to secure revenge, reprisal, or honour for a member of the injured group. The hostile groups are related in some way, such as being members of the same political or cultural unit. Within each group there is a strong sense of collective solidarity that protects individual members against injury by outsiders. Members of any other such group are held collectively responsible for any injury suffered at the hands of the members of that group. If, however, both parties accept as “due process” a counterkilling in response to an original homicide, a feud will not result.

      Most nonliterate societies have institutions that forestall blood feud or bring it to a close. Even though many peoples, such as the Trobriand Islanders of Melanesia and the Nuer of the Sudan, profess that honour demands revenge, payment of compensation is more common than reciprocal killing (see blood money). Regulated combat was frequently used by the Australian Aborigines as a substitute for blood feud. The establishment of a strong centralized political authority generally results in the suppression of blood feud.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • feud — (n.) c.1300, fede enmity, hatred, hostility, northern English and Scottish; perhaps from an unrecorded O.E. word or else from O.Fr. fede, from O.H.G. fehida contention, quarrel, feud, from P.Gmc. *faihitha noun of state from adj. *faiho (Cf. O.E …   Etymology dictionary

  • feud — feud; feud·ist; sub·in·feud; …   English syllables

  • Feud — (f[=u]d), n. [OE. feide, AS. f[=ae]h[eth], fr. f[=a]h hostile; akin to OHG. f[=e]hida, G. fehde, Sw. fejd, D. feide; prob. akin to E. fiend. See Foe.] 1. A combination of kindred to avenge injuries or affronts, done or offered to any of their… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Feud — Feud, n. [LL. feudum, feodum prob. of same origin as E. fief. See {Fief}, {Fee}.] (Law) A stipendiary estate in land, held of a superior, by service; the right which a vassal or tenant had to the lands or other immovable thing of his lord, to use …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • feud — ● feud nom masculin (anglais feud, querelle) État d hostilité dans certaines sociétés traditionnelles, s exprimant en attaques périodiques entre groupes constitués (lignages, villages, etc.) selon un cycle immuable, relevant de règles non écrites …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • feud — FEÚD s.n. v. feudă. Trimis de LauraGellner, 07.03.2009. Sursa: DEX 98  FEÚD s.n. v. feudă. Trimis de LauraGellner, 13.09.2007. Sursa: DN …   Dicționar Român

  • feud — [n] major argument; estrangement altercation, bad blood*, bickering, broil*, combat, conflict, contention, contest, controversy, disagreement, discord, dispute, dissension, enmity, faction, falling out*, fight, fracas, grudge, hostility, quarrel …   New thesaurus

  • feud — ► NOUN 1) a prolonged and bitter quarrel or dispute. 2) a state of prolonged mutual hostility and violence. ► VERB ▪ take part in a feud. ORIGIN Old French feide hostility …   English terms dictionary

  • feud — feud1 [fyo͞od] n. [ME fede < OFr faide < Frank * faida, akin to OHG fehida, enmity, revenge < IE base * peik , hostile > FOE, Lith pìktas, angry] 1. a bitter, protracted, and violent quarrel, esp. between clans or families, often… …   English World dictionary

  • feud — I noun alienation, altercation, animosity, animus, antagonism, bitterness, breach, clash, conflict, contention, controversy, difference, disaccord, disagreement, discord, dispute, dissension, enmity, estrangement, faction, grudge, hereditary… …   Law dictionary

  • fèud — m 〈N mn i〉 pov. u europskom feudalnom društvu, vazalov izvor prihoda (ob. zemljišni posjed) koji on dobiva od seniora u zamjenu za određene obveze (davanje prihoda, vojna služba i sl.); leno ✧ {{001f}}lat …   Veliki rječnik hrvatskoga jezika

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