fief n : a piece of land held under the feudal system [syn: feoff]

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes with: -iːf

Noun

1. An estate held of a superior on condition of military service.
2. Something over which one has rights or exercises control.
3. i metaphor An area of dominion, esp. in a corporate or governmental bureaucracy.

Synonyms

• manor

Related terms

• fiefdom

Under the system of feudalism, a fiefdom, fief, feud, feoff, or fee, often consisted of inheritable lands or revenue-producing property granted by a liege lord, generally to a vassal, in return for a form of allegiance, originally to give him the means to fulfill his military duties when called upon. However anything of value could be held in fief, such as an office, a right of exploitation (e.g., hunting, fishing) or any other type of revenue, rather than the land it comes from.

Derogatory usage

In contemporary usage, fiefdomism can refer to behavior of bureaucrats or small time politicians when information or programs are isolated and jealously guarded from other bureaucrats or small time politicians in order to preserve their power at the expense of making government worse.

See also

• Nobility
• Serfdom
• Appanage (consisting in part of the liege's domain, granted to a junior relative)
• Knight-service
• Enfeoffment
• Feoffee

Sources and references

copyhold, equitable estate, estate at sufferance, estate for life, estate for years, estate in expectancy, estate in fee, estate in possession, estate tail, fee, fee simple, fee tail, feod, feodum, feud, feudal estate, lease, leasehold, legal estate, paramount estate, particular estate, remainder, reversion, vested estate