feist

See also: Feist

English

Alternative forms

• fist, fice

Etymology

Earliest sense is “fart”, and later “stink” as abbreviation for fysting cur “stinking dog” (1520s). From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English fysten (mid-15th century), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English. Cognates with Middle Dutch veest and Dutch vijst. Possibly from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *fistiz (“a fart”), presumably from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Indo-European *pesd-, though this is disputed.

One explanation for the association of farting with small dogs is given in an 1811 slang dictionary, which suggests that the dogs were blamed for farting, specifically defining fice as “a small windy escape backwards, more obvious to the nose than ears; frequently by old ladies charged on their lap-dogs.”

Cognate terms include Danish fise (“to blow, to fart”) and obsolete Middle English askefise (“bellows”, literally “fire-blower, ash-blower”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Norse; originally “a term of reproach among northern nations for an unwarlike fellow who stayed at home in the chimney corner”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /faɪst/
• Rhymes: -aɪst

Noun

feist (plural feists)

1. (US, regional) A small, snappy, belligerent mixed-breed dog.
2. (vulgar) Silent (but pungent) flatulence.

   Synonym: SBD

Usage notes

The term feist is uncommon, but the derived term feisty is common.

Derived terms

• feisty

Anagrams

• Feits, Fites, fetis

---

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /faɪ̯st/

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle High German veizet, from Old High German feizzit, from Proto-Germanic *faitidaz, whence also fett (through Middle Low German).

Adjective

feist (comparative feister, superlative am feistesten)

1. (derogatory, now chiefly literary) fat (of a person)

Usage notes

• Feist typically adds a negative moral judgment to the description, implying gluttony, laziness, and/or unrightful wealth. For example, ein feister Kapitalist (“a fat capitalist”).

Etymology 2

Inflected forms.

Verb

feist

1. (deprecated template usage) Second-person singular present of feien.