An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Feier

by Friedrich Kluge

Feier, feminine, ‘holiday, festival, celebration,’ from Middle High German vîre, feminine, Old High German fîra, fîrra, ‘festival, holiday’; borrowed from Middle Latin fêria (formed from Latin feriae), with the lat ê strengthened, as Kreide, Speise, Seide, Pein; the cause of the rr in Old High German fîrra is the i of fêria.