n.
(1) 'fortune, rank, dignity'; (2) 'company'
(Modern English )MS <lere> at Pe 616 is usually emended (see also *here) and EVG (with followers, incl. AW) suggests it should read *fere. (1) He suggests that this word represents an aphetic form of Fr afe(i)re (which does occur elsewhere, see OED s.v. feir (n.) and MED s.v. fēre (n.5), comparing the phrase (with) grete fere to de grant afeire 'of high rank, with great pomp and circumstance'. Noting rhymes with close e, he argues that this word was confused or blended with MED's fẹ̄re (n.3) 'ability, power' < ON, cp. OIcel færi 'capacity, ability, means, possibility', though the sense remains closer to the French. (2) Alternatively, EVG allows that if it is taken to refer to the company of heavenly queens rather than the peny of Pe 614, it could be identified with MED's fẹ̄re (n.2) < OE gefēre 'company, community'.
PGmc Ancestor
?*fōr-i-
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
færi 'capacity, ability, means, possibility'
(ONP fǿri (sb.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
(1) Far føri, Icel færi, Norw føre, Dan føre, Sw fōre
OE Cognate
(2) gefēre 'company, community'
Phonological and morphological markers
Summary category
DD2
(1) MED only has three citations of its fēre (n.5) with no evident dial bias, in DT, PP and a1300 A Mayde Cristes (Jes-O 29). OED's citations of its n. feir in the relevant sense (a) come from late ME/early MnE feir Sc. (2) Common and widespread in ME, now obsol.
Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus
Pe 616
On the emendation of MS <lere> at Pe 616, see Etymological Discussion and *here.