fenugreek 
ME. *fcnigrek, ffeyngrek, venecreke, < AS. feno- 
grecuin, and separately fen urn grecum (= D.feni- 
griek = F. fenugrec = Pr. fenugrec, fengrec = 
Sp. fenogreco = Pg. fenogrego), < L. fenumgrce- 
cum,fenum Grcecum, more correctly/<Ew Grce- 
cum, fenugreek, lit. 'Greek hay': f cerium, less 
correctly fenum, erroneously fcenum, hay, per- 
haps </*/*. produce : see fennel, fetus.'] The 
Trigonella Ftenum-grascuui, an annual legumi- 
nous plant indigenous to western Asia, but 
widely naturalized, and extensively cultivated 
in Asia, Africa, and some parts of Europe. The 
mucilaginous seeds are used as food, and also 
in medicine. Also fcenugreek. 
ffeyngrek to have of seede is to be sowe 
In Ytalie ene in this Janes ende. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 45. 
2182 
Saxon lair, a tax for the king's sustentation as 
he went through his realm. 
In every shire the king received, out of the produce of 
what had been the folk land contained in the shire, a com- 
pensation for his sustcntutinn, termed theffuriiifiiltinii. 
S. Dowell, Taxes in England. 1. Hi. 
fer 1 (ffer), adv. and a. An obsolete or dialectal 
form of far 1 . 
fer' 2 t, . A rare Middle English form of fire. 
-fer. [L. adj. -fer, m., -fera, t., -ferum, neut., < 
frrre. = E. bear 1 : see -ferous, -phorous.] The 
terminal element of nouns with a correspond- 
ing adjective in -ferous, as conifer, a coniferous 
tree. See -ferous. 
feraciOUS (fe-ra'shus), a. [= Sp. feraz = It. 
ferace, < L. ferax (feraci-), fruitful, fertile, < 
/erre = E. bear 1 : see bear 1 . Cf. fertile.'] Fruit- 
ful; producing abundantly. [Rare.] 
Like an oak 
Xurs'd on ferocious Algidum. 
Thouitm, Liberty, iii. 
Fenigreeke commeth hot behind the other hearbs before 
specified in credit and account for the vertues which it 
hath : the Greeks call it Telus and Carphos. 
Holland, tr. of Pliny, p. 207. 
In the case of a drink called "Hollands whiskee," it feracity (fe-rasl-ti), n. [< ME. feracitee = Sp. 
was produced by distilling the methylated spirit with a 
little nitric acid, and then sweetening with treacle, and 
flavouring with rhubarb, chloroform, faenuffrpek, etc. 
Encijc. Brit., I. 178. 
feod, feodal, feodality, feodary. Less correct 
spellings, based, like the French feodal, etc., on 
the less correct Middle Latin forms, feodum,feo- 
dalis, etc., of feud%, feudal?, etc. The English 
pronunciation (fud, fu'dal, etc.) belongs to the 
spelling feud, etc. 
feoff (fef), v. t. [An artificial spelling preserved 
in law books, in imitation of the Law L. and 
later OP. forms ; the E. pronunciation is that 
of the reg. E. spelling feff; < ME. feffen, invest 
with a fee or fief, < OF. feffer, fieffer, Jiefer (later 
spelled fcoffer), F. fieffer (in Law L. fi-offare, 
the proper' ML. verb being feodare, or rather 
feudare), < OF. fief, a fee or 'fief : see fee?, fief, 
fetid^.] 1. To invest with a fee or feud ; give 
or grant a fee to; enfeoff. 2f. To endow. 
Was ther non other broch you liste lete, 
Tofeffe with your newe love? 
Chaucer, Troilus, v. 1689. 
The kynge hym fe/ed with his right glove, and than he 
reised hym vpon tils' feet. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 374. 
So wel was William bi-louede with riche (fc with pore, 
So fre tofeffe alle frekes [persons] with ful faire giftes. 
William of Palerne. (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1061. 
May God forbid tofeffe you so with grace. 
Court of Lone, 1. 932. 
feoff (fef), . See fief. 
feoffee (fe-fe'), . [< feoff '+ -ee; < F.fieffe', pp. 
of fieffer, feoff.] A person who is enfeoffed 
that is, invested with a fee. 
He had convayed secretly all his landes to feoffees of 
trust. Spenser, State of Ireland. 
Making himself rich by being made a feoffee in trust to 
deceased brethren. B. Jonson, Bartholomew Fair, v. 2. 
Feoffee to uses, at common law, one to whom land is con- 
veyed to the use of another. See use. 
feoffer, feoffor (fef er, -or), n. [OF. feoffor, 
feouffour,JAL.feoffator: see feoff, v.] One who 
enfeoffs, or grants a fee. 
feoffment (fef'ment), n. [< ME. feffement, < OF. 
feoff ement (ML. feoff amentum), \ feoffer, etc., 
feoff: see feoff, v.] In law: (a) Originally, the 
gift of a fief or feud. 
The parliament passed bills to limit the benefit of clergy 
and forbid feoffments to the use of churches. 
Stubbs, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 319. 
(b) The conveyance of land by investiture, or 
words of donation, accompanied by livery of 
seizin; also, the document making such con- 
veyance. 
Thanne Symonye and Cyuyle stoden forth bothe, 
And vnfeelde the feffement that Fals hadde maked. 
Fieri Plowman (C), iii. 73. 
He has a quarrel to carry, and has caused 
A deed of feoffment of his whole estate 
To be drawn yonder : he has 't within ; and you 
Only he means to make feoffee. 
/.'. Jonson, Devil is an Asa. iv. 3. 
The process of conveying land by the combined effect 
of a deed and livery of seisin was called a feoffment ; the 
deed was first executed, and then livery of seisin was given, 
and a memorandum of this was indorsed on the deed, and 
usually attested by the same witnesses. 
F. Pollock, Land Laws, p. 72. 
(c) A like transfer or creation of any corporeal 
hereditament or freehold estate. 
Could his grants, if not in themselves null, avail against 
his posterity, heirs like himself under the great feoffment 
of creation ? Hallam. 
feoffor, n. See feoffer. 
feolet, a. SeefeeP. 
feort, adv. and a. A Middle English form of 
far 1 . 
feorm-fultumt, . [AS., < feorm, provision (see 
farm 1 ), + fultum, aid, assistance.] In Anglo- 
= Sp. 
feracidad = Pg. feracidade = It. feracita, < L. 
feracita(t-)s, < ferax (feraci-), fruitful : seefera- 
cious.'] Fruitfulness. [Bare.] 
\Vel froted wolde he [the olive] fattc ydonnged be, 
And wagged [shaken] with wynde of feraeitee. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 209. 
Such writers, instead of brittle, would say fragile ; in- 
stead of fruitfulness, feracity. 
Beattie, Moral Science, IV. i. ( S. 
ferae (fe're), n. pi. [L., fern. pi. (sc. bestia:) of 
ferus, wild: see fierce.'] 1. Wild animals. See 
ferce natura, below. 2. [cap.] In the Linnean 
system of classification (1766), the third order 
of Mammalia, containing the ten Linnean gen- 
era I'hoca, Canig, Felis, Viverra, Mtistela, Vrsus, 
Dideljihys, Talpa, PSorex, and Erinaceus. Of these, 
the last three are insectivorous, and the seventh is mar- 
supial. Excluding these four, and bringing in the genus 
Trichechus, which Linmcus placed in Bruta, the order be- 
comes the following modern group : 
3. [cap.] An order of Mammalia, the Carnivora 
of authors. It includes educabilian quadrupeds with 
teeth of three kinds, all enameled, the canines specialized, 
the toes clawed, the scaphoid and semilunar carpal bones 
consolidated into a single scapholunar bone, the placenta 
zonary deciduate, the brain with no calcarine sulcus, 
clavicles rudimentary or wanting, and the pelvis and hind 
limbs developed. The Ferce thus characterized include 
all the ordinary carnivorous mammals, and are divided 
into Fissipedia and Pinnipedia, the former containing 
the terrestrial forms, the latter the aquatic seals. Fer89 
naturae. [L., lit. wild animals of nature : ferte, pi. fern., 
wild animals (see etym. above) ; nat urte, gen. of natura, 
nature: also generally explained as meaning literally 'of a 
wild nature,' the full phrase being anittutlia ferae naturiv.] 
In /"", animals living in a wild state, such as the hare, 
deer, or pheasants: distinguished from domesticated ani- 
mals (animalfa domitce naturae), as the cow, horse, sheep, 
poultry. 
feral 1 (fe'ral), a. [< L. fera, a wild animal. 
a wild beast (see ferce), + -at.'] 1. Of or per- 
taining to wild beasts; wild; ferine; ferous; 
existing in a state of nature ; not domesticated 
or artificially bred: as, the mallard is the feral 
stock of the domestic duck. 
This girl . . . is one of those women men makeaquar- 
rel about and fight to the death for the old feral instinct, 
you know. O. W. Holmes, Elsie Vernier, xvi. 
Some habit common to swine in their feral condition. 
Pop. Sci. Mo., XXVIII. 638. 
2. Run wild; having escaped from domestica- 
tion and reverted to a state of nature. 
In Paraguay and in Circassia it has been noticed that 
feral horses of the same colour and size usually breed to- 
gether. A. Jt. Wallace, in Fortnightly Rev., N. S., XL. 315. 
In New Zealand, according to Dieffenbach, the feral cats 
assume a streaky grey colour like that of wild cats. 
Darwin, Var. of Animals and Plants, p. 49. 
3. Like a wild beast; characteristic of wild 
beasts; brutal; savage. 4. In aslrol., said of 
a planet which has no significant relation to 
any other. 
feral 2 (fe'ral), a. [= Sp. Pg. feral = It.ferale, < 
L. feralis, of or belonging to the dead, fune- 
real, deadly, fatal, < ferre, = E. bear 1 , in ref- 
erence to the carrying of the dead in funeral 
procession ; cf . E. bier, ult. < bear 1 .] Funereal ; 
pertaining to funerals ; mournful; fatal; cruel. 
Imminent danger and feral diseases are now ready to 
seize upon them. Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 148. 
Feralia (fe-ra'li-a), n. pi. [L., neut. pi. of fe- 
ralis: see feral?.] In Rom. antiq., an appointed 
festival in honor of the dead, held in February. 
The most characteristic observance consisted in the car- 
rying of food by the people to the tombs of relatives or an- 
cestors, for the use of their shades. 
ferantt, a. [ME., < OF. ferant, ferand, iron- 
gray: see ferrandine.] Iron-gray: applied to a 
horse. 
The floure of oure terse mene one fferant stedez 
ffolowes frekly on the frekes, thate ffrayede was never. 
Morte Arthurs (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2259. 
feretory 
ferash, ferosh (fe-rash', -rosh'), . [Anglo- 
Ind., repr. Hind, farash, farraxh, < AT. farrdsh, 
a servant whose business is to spread and sweep 
the mats, carpets, etc., <farsh, a carpet, a mat, 
floor-cloth, anything spread out, <farsli, spread- 
ing.] In the East Indies, a menial servant 
whose proper business is to spread carpets, pitch 
tents, etc., and in a house to do the work of a 
chambermaid. Yule and Burnett, Anglo-Indian 
Glossary. 
ferberite (fer'ber-It), n. [After R. Ferber of 
jlera, Germany.] A tungstate of iron with a 
little manganese, found in cleavable masses in 
Sierra Almagrera in southern Spain. 
ferdH, P- a. A Middle English form offeard. 
ferd 1 !, [ME.,</erai, fear: see fear 1 .] Fear. 
Stinting in my tale 
Forferde. Chaucer, Death of Blanche, 1. 1214. 
But the freike for/-d fled of his gate, 
ffrusshet thurgh the folke forth of his sight. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 66B5. 
ferd 2 t, [ME., alsoferde, feord,furd, < AS. 
ferdjfyrd, an army, host, company (= OS. fard 
= OFries. ferd, fart, an expedition, journey, = 
MD. vaert, D. raerd, vaard, journey, = OHG. 
fart, MHG. vart, G. fahrt, a journey, = Icel. 
ferdh = Dan. far A = Sw.fard, voyage, travel, 
course), < faran, go: see fare 1 .] An army; a 
host. [This word, in the Anglo-Saxon form 
fyrd, is used historically in a technical sense. 
Seefyrd.] 
Faraon withth all hiss/errf 
Comm affterrworrd. Onnulum, 1. 14792. 
Ther com him a-^ens of kinges & other grete 
The fairest ferde of folk that euer bi-fore was seie. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. S.), 1. 6326. 
fer de f ourchette ( far de f or-shet' ) . [F. : fer, 
iron ; de, of ; f ourchette, fork : see ferro-, four- 
chette.] In her., a fork-shaped support for a 
musket ; the croc or rest used in the early days 
of hand-firearms. 
fer-de-lance (far'de-lons'), n. [F., lit. lance- 
head, iron of the lance: fer,(. L./errwm, iron; de, 
< L. de, of ; lance, lance : see lance.] The lance- 
headed or yellow viper, Craspedoceplialus (or 
Botkrops) lanceolatus, of the family Crotalidtf, 
a large and very venomous serpent of the warm 
parts of America. It is from 5 to 7 feet long, and is 
capable of making considerable springs when in pursuit 
of prey or of some object which has irritated it. Its bite 
is often fatal, the only antidote of any avail seeming to be, 
as in the case of bites of other venomous snakes, ardent 
spirits. This serpent infests sugar-plantations in the 
West India islands, and is dreaded alike by man and beast 
The tail ends in a horny spine, which scrapes harshly 
against rough objects, but does not rattle. See cut under 
Cra spedofephalu*. 
If by some rare chance you encounter [in the island of 
Martinique] a person who has lost an arm or a leg, you 
can be almost certain you are looking at a victim of the 
fer-de-lance. the serpent whose venom putrefies living 
tissue. Harper's Mag., LXXVII. 328. 
fer de mouline (far de mo-len'). [F. : fer, iron; 
de, of; mouline, mill: see mill 1 .] In her., the 
iron let into the millstone. Also called mill- 
rine. 
ferdigewt, [See farthingale.] A farthin- 
gale. 
In our tricke/erdei7w and billiments of golde. 
Udall, Roister Doister, ii. 3. 
ferdnesst, . [ME. ferdnes, fear, < ferd, fered, 
pp. (see ferd 1 , feard), + -nes, -ness.] The state 
of being afraid ; tearfulness. 
Vorferdneg he turned ogayne 
And durst do no thing at the kyrk. 
Holy Rood (E. E. T. S.), p. 122. 
ferdwitt (ferd'wit), n. [The form in old law 
books (Law L. ferdwita) of ME. ferdwitt, AS. 
ferdwite, fyrdwite, a fine for neglecting the mili- 
tary service, <fyrd, also written ferd,fierd,fird, 
an army, the military array of the whole coun- 
try, an expedition (see ferd?), + wite, punish- 
ment, fine: see wife.] In Anglo-Saxon law, a 
fine imposed on persons for not going forth in 
a military expedition. 
fere 1 !, and '. A Middle English form of fear 1 . 
fere 2 t, n. See/m-i. 
fere 3 t, A rare Middle English form of fire. 
fere*t, a. See fear 3 . 
feredt, p. A Middle English form offeard. 
fereta, . Plural offeretum. 
feretert, fertert, . [ME. ferter, fertre, < OF. 
fertre, fiertre, feretre = Sp. Pg. It. feretro, < L. 
feretrum, an accom. of Gr. ijtcpcrpov (the proper 
L. word being ferculum), a litter, a bier, < <f>i- 
peiv = L. ferre = E. bear 1 . Cf. E. bier, < bear 1 .] 
Same us feretory. 
feretory (for'e-to-ri), n. ; pi. feretories (-riz). 
[As fereter, ferter, ^with term, -ory.] 1. A shrine 
