fief

fief; stronghold (district where a particular political party is usually assured of victory)

From Old French fief, borrowed from Medieval Latin fevum, a variant of feudum, from Old Frankish *fehu (“cattle, livestock”), from Proto-Germanic *fehu (“cattle, sheep”), from Proto-Indo-European *peku-, *peḱu- (“sheep”). Cognate with Old High German fihu (“cattle, neat”), Old English feoh (“cattle, property, money”). More at fee.