A fee is a sum of money that you pay to be allowed to do something.
He hadn't paid his television licence fee.
2. countable noun
A fee is the amount of money that a person or organization is paid for a particular job or service that they provide.
Find out how much your surveyor's and solicitor's fees will be.
Synonyms: charge, pay, price, cost More Synonyms of fee
fee in British English
(fiː)
noun
1.
a payment asked by professional people or public servants for their services
a doctor's fee
school fees
2.
a charge made for a privilege
an entrance fee
3. property law
a.
an interest in land capable of being inherited
fee simple, fee tail
b.
the land held in fee
4.
(in feudal Europe) the land granted by a lord to his vassal
5. an obsolete word for a gratuity
6. in fee
verbWord forms: fees, feeing or feed
7. rare
to give a fee to
8. mainly Scottish
to hire for a fee
Derived forms
feeless (ˈfeeless)
adjective
Word origin
C14: from Old French fie, of Germanic origin; see fief
fee in American English
(fi)
noun
1.
a. Obsolete
heritable land held from a feudal lord in return for service; fief; feudal benefice
b. Obsolete
the right to hold such land
c. Obsolete
payment, service, or homage due a superior
2.
payment asked or given for professional services, admissions, licenses, tuition, etc.; charge
3. Rare
a present of money; tip; gratuity
4.
an inheritable estate in real property
see also fee simple, fee tail
verb transitiveWord forms: feed or ˈfeeing
5. Rare
to give a fee, or tip, to
SIMILAR WORDS: wage
Idioms:
hold in fee
Word origin
ME, estate, fief, payment < Anglo-Fr (< OFr feu, fief < Gmc, as in OHG feho, fihu, akin to OE feoh) < IE base *pek- > OE feoh, cattle, property
Examples of 'fee' in a sentence
fee
The reasons why the resale value can be so poor include high exit fees and service charges.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
You will not be charged exit fees if you decide to go with a different supplier.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
So how much might this fee be?
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Why are parasite lawyers opening old wounds and costing the country millions in legal fees?
The Sun (2016)
Why do we pay our licence fee each year for the same films and programmes?
The Sun (2016)
This could mean that money put aside to pay for university fees or mortgage deposits could be squandered on holidays.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
In return the company takes 9 per cent of annual management services fees.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
There was acclaim for the clampdown on letting agents' fees.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The proposals envisage that Britons could pay an annual membership fee into the Brussels budget.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
You will still have to pay solicitor 's fees and stamp duty, as with buying a home outright.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
It was licence fee money well spent.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Fees for these services usually depend on the size and number of deals overseen for a client.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The firm will also pay exit fees from previous suppliers.
The Sun (2016)
The new annual fees could be in place in three months.
The Sun (2007)
Others may charge you a fee that will be discounted if you decide to engage them further.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Investment firms are clamping down on managers producing poor returns amid growing pressure to justify high fees.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The legal fees amounted to a few thousand dollars or so.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Your legal fees will be covered in such cases.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Its licence fee should be cut and its online services offered for a subscription.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
He has cut costs to the point where they are running well below income from management fees.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Its proposals include a new fee structure and increased protection for vulnerable people.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
There are numerous scholarships offering anything up to full fee payments.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Most lenders will allow you to split your loan and pay arrangement fees at least once.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Note that both cards come with an annual fee.
The Sun (2015)
Explain what you want and check their fees or charges.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
There may also be a different fee on the money transfer element than the advertised balance transfer fee.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Experts say that prepaid cards provide much cheaper fees than credit cards and allow holidaymakers to avoid paying exchange fees.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Some charge a monthly service fee.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Investors in these funds are paying higher fees for active management while their funds barely differ from the index they are tracking.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
It said you would need a balance of less than 70 to trigger the minimum interest fee.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
It seems strange that many clubs will pay the agent 's fee for their players.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Until 2012 students not only paid far less in fees but interest was capped at inflation or less.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Most complaints are from tenants, but some come from landlords in dispute with their hired agents over fees or services.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
It will pay for solicitor 's fees and potential loss of earnings if you need to take time off work to sort things out.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Word lists with
fee
Property law terms
In other languages
fee
British English: fee /fiː/ NOUN
A fee is a sum of money that you pay to be allowed to do something.
We paid the small entrance fee and drove inside.
American English: fee
Arabic: أُجْرَة رسم
Brazilian Portuguese: taxa
Chinese: 费
Croatian: pristojba
Czech: poplatek
Danish: gebyr
Dutch: kosten
European Spanish: precio
Finnish: maksu
French: frais inscription
German: Gebühr
Greek: αμοιβή
Italian: tariffa
Japanese: 料金
Korean: 요금
Norwegian: gebyr
Polish: opłata
European Portuguese: taxa
Romanian: taxă
Russian: вознаграждение
Latin American Spanish: honorarios
Swedish: avgift
Thai: ค่าธรรมเนียม
Turkish: ücret
Ukrainian: платня
Vietnamese: lệ phí
All related terms of 'fee'
in fee
(of land) in absolute ownership
entry fee
the fee you have to pay to join a society , club , gym , etc
fee tail
a freehold interest in land restricted to a particular line of heirs
green fee
See greens fee
kill fee
a fee paid to a freelance writer for material written on assignment but not used
stud fee
a price paid by the owner of a female animal to the owner of a male animal for the right to breed the female animal with the male animal
advance fee
See front money (sense 3 )
agency fee
a fee charged by an agency
booking fee
a fee that some theatre and agencies charge the customer for booking through them
capping fee
a fee paid for a day of fox-hunting with an association of hunters of which one is not a member
common fee
(in Australia) the agreed usual charge for any medical service, which determines the amount of reimbursement under the federal health scheme
fee-paying
Fee-paying is used to talk about institutions or services which people have to pay to use, especially ones which are often provided free.
fee simple
an absolute interest in land over which the holder has complete freedom of disposition during his or her life
fee waiver
A waiver is when a person, government, or organization agrees to give up a right or says that people do not have to obey a particular rule or law.
greens fee
a fee paid to play golf on a golf course
joining fee
a sum of money that you pay in order to become a member of a club , organization, etc, or in order to start receiving a service, such as a phone line
licence fee
an annual fee paid by television users in the UK
survey fee
the money paid to a surveyor for an inspection of a building to determine its condition and value
enrolment fee
the amount of money payable when you enrol on a course, at a university, etc
entrance fee
An entrance fee is a sum of money which you pay before you go into somewhere such as a cinema or museum, or which you have to pay in order to join an organization or institution .
fee-splitting
giving to a colleague who makes the referral part of the fee charged to a referred client or patient
finder's fee
a payment made to a person who facilitates a business or financial deal by, for example, bringing a buyer and a seller or a lender and a borrower together
transfer fee
a sum of money paid by one football club to another for a transferred player
appearance fee
fee paid by a promoter of an event to a particular celebrity in order to ensure that the celebrity takes part in the event
arrangement fee
a fee charged by a bank , building society , etc for setting up a loan
call-out fee
a set amount charged for a repairman to come to one's house, or to a broken-down vehicle, which is added to the cost of the actual repair
commission fee
a fee paid to auctioneers , salespeople , etc, for their services
commitment fee
a charge made by a bank, in addition to interest, to make a loan available to a potential borrower
connection fee
a charge made as soon as a caller is connected to the number dialled and which is additional to any charges calculated based on the duration of the call
contingency fee
a lawyer's fee that only becomes payable if the case is successful
hold in fee
to own; possess
origination fee
a fee collected by a lender for processing a mortgage or loan application
cancellation fee
A cancellation fee is a sum of money you must pay if you cancel a hotel reservation after the cancellation deadline .
drop-dead fee
a fee paid to an organization lending money to a company that is hoping to use it to finance a takeover bid . The fee is only paid if the bid fails and interest charges are only incurred if the money is needed
reconnection fee
an amount of money that a company charges customers in order to reconnect their supply of electricity , water, gas, or telephone after it has been stopped
registration fee
a fee paid to register , enrol or sign up for (a course , etc)
fee-paying school
a school which charges fees to parents of pupils
no-win, no-fee
in which the legal firm taking the case is only paid if it wins the case and obtains damages for its client