# feud

> English word · Noun · IPA /fjuːd/ · frequency rank #12,598

## Definitions
1. A state of long-standing mutual hostility.
2. A staged rivalry between wrestlers.
3. A combination of kindred to avenge injuries or affronts, done or offered to any of their blood, on the offender and all his race.

## Etymology
Inherited from Northern Middle English fede, feide, from Old French faide, feide, fede, from Proto-West Germanic *faihiþu (“hatred, enmity”) (corresponding to foe + -th), from Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- (“hostile”).
Cognate to Old English fǣhþ, fǣhþu, fǣhþo (“hostility, enmity, violence, revenge, vendetta”), German Fehde, and Dutch vete (“feud”) (directly inherited from Proto-West Germanic) alongside Danish fejde (“feud, enmity, hostility, war”) and Swedish fejd (“feud, controversy, quarrel, strife”) (borrowed from Middle Low German).

## Easily confused with
- **fu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feud-vs-fu)
- **few** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feud-vs-few)
- **fun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feud-vs-fun)
- **fur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feud-vs-fur)
- **flu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feud-vs-flu)
- **fey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feud-vs-fey)
- **fez** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feud-vs-fez)
- **fut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feud-vs-fut)
- **fou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feud-vs-fou)
- **find** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feud-vs-find)
- **four** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feud-vs-four)
- **food** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feud-vs-food)
- **fund** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feud-vs-fund)
- **ford** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feud-vs-ford)
- **Fred** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feud-vs-fred)
- **fled** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feud-vs-fled)
- **foul** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feud-vs-foul)
- **fond** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feud-vs-fond)
- **flux** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feud-vs-flux)
- **flue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/feud-vs-flue)

## Common misspellings (5)
`efud`, `fedu`, `feudd`, `ffeud`, `fued`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/feud