fee

[ fee ]

noun

1. a charge or payment for professional services:

   a doctor's fee.

   Synonyms: honorarium, emolument, salary, stipend

2. a sum paid or charged for a privilege:

   an admission fee.

3. a charge allowed by law for the service of a public officer.
4. Law.
   1. an estate of inheritance in land, either absolute and without limitation to any particular class of heirs fee simple or limited to a particular class of heirs fee tail.
   2. an inheritable estate in land held of a feudal lord on condition of the performing of certain services.
   3. a territory held in fee.
5. a gratuity; tip.

verb (used with object)

, feed, fee·ing.

1. to give a fee to.
2. Chiefly Scot. to hire; employ.

fee

/ fiː /

noun

1. a payment asked by professional people or public servants for their services

   school fees

   a doctor's fee

2. a charge made for a privilege

   an entrance fee

3. property law
   1. an interest in land capable of being inherited See fee simple fee tail
   2. the land held in fee
4. (in feudal Europe) the land granted by a lord to his vassal
5. See gratuity
   an obsolete word for a gratuity
6. in fee
   in fee
   1. law (of land) in absolute ownership
   2. in complete subjection

verb

1. rare.
   to give a fee to
2. to hire for a fee

Derived Forms

• ˈfeeless, adjective

Other Words From

• feeless adjective
• over·fee noun
• super·fee noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of fee¹

1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French; Old French fie, variant of fief fief. See feudal

Word History and Origins

Origin of fee¹

C14: from Old French fie , of Germanic origin; see fief

Example Sentences

The corporate partners pay a subscription fee per year to post courses, and students can access all courses for free.

From TechCrunch

Unless he gets a respite from another court, the rapper will appear on just 12 ballots, three of them in states where he needed only to pay a fee for access.

From Washington Post

With corporate travel you can cancel change fees but sometimes you still won’t get the full refund on the ticket.

From Fortune

The firm has 45 commitments from investors, including many in the $1 billion range, it said without specifying whether the money is heading into the high-fee Pure Alpha hedge funds or low fee long-only products.

From Fortune

Now Arm is being acquired by one of those competitors, which may use its position to hike licensing and royalty fees on its rivals or to deny them access to the latest technology.

From Fortune

These “free” games display ads, often in obnoxious places, in lieu of the entry fee.

From The Daily Beast

The user fee on duck stamps goes exclusively to funding federal acquisition of wetlands as wildlife habitat.

From The Daily Beast

The Federal Duck Stamp Act raised the fee on stamps needed to hunt waterfowl on federal land from $15 to $25.

From The Daily Beast

Meanwhile CBS announced a similar deal this year that will offer their catalogue of shows online for a monthly fee.

From The Daily Beast

For a large fee, you could be pushed down the boardwalk on a rolling wicker chair by a black worker.

From The Daily Beast

I was proud of my début as an arbitrator, especially as it was rewarded by, what seemed to me then, a very handsome fee.

From Project Gutenberg

A country girl, riding by a turnpike-road without paying toll, the gate-keeper hailed her and demanded his fee.

From Project Gutenberg

If you killed on a job Carlson considered the danger greater and pushed up his fee accordingly.

From Project Gutenberg

If upon a boat, let one of the servants perform this office, being careful to fee him for it.

From Project Gutenberg

When the Turks saw a destroyer come bustling up at an unusual hour they said to themselves, "fee faw fum!"

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• account
• bill
• commission
• compensation
• cost
• cut
• expense
• pay
• payment
• price
• reward
• salary
• share
• stipend
• wage