Inherited fromOld Catalanfe, fromLatinfēnum, monophthongized variant offaenum, fromProto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁(y)-no-, from*dʰeh₁(y)-. The modern formfenc, which appears to have been taken from a northeastern dialect, has the advantage of distinguishing the word fromfe(“faith”). CompareOccitanfen,Frenchfoin,Spanishheno.
See the etymology of the correspondinglemma form.
fenc