An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Fehde

by Friedrich Kluge

Fehde, feminine, ‘feud,’ from Middle High German vêhede, vêde, Old High German fêhida, ‘hate, enmity, quarrel, feud’; corresponds to Anglo-Saxon fœ̂hþ, feminine, ‘enmity, revenge, feud’; Goth *faihiþa, ‘enmity,’ is probably an abstract noun from the Gothic adjective *faihs, ‘hostile,’ which appears in Anglo-Saxon as fâh, fâg, ‘exiled, outlawed, proscribed’ (Anglo-Saxon gefâa, masculine, ‘enemy,’ English foe; compare Old High German gifêh, Middle High German gevêch, ‘hostile, malignant’). A pre-Teutonic root, pī̆q, ‘to injure, cheat’ (compare also Gothic faih, ‘imposition, deception,’ bifaihôn, ‘to deceive, overreach’), is indicated by the Lithuanian; compare Lithuanian pìktas, ‘angry,’ pýkti, ‘to get angry,’ peíkti, ‘to curse,’ paíkas, ‘stupid’ (akin to Prussian po-paikâ, ‘he cheats’). Respecting the interchange of meaning between ‘to injure’ and ‘to deceive,’ see trügen. Hence English foe is literally ‘one who injures,’ Old High German fêhida, literally ‘hurt, injury.’