enfeoff

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*peḱu-“livestock, especially sheep or cattle”
2. Old French · derived fromenfeffer
3. Middle English · inherited fromenfeffen, enfeoffen“to grant (property, rights, etc.) under the feudal system”
4. English todayenfeoff

From Late Middle English enfeffen, enfeoffen (“to grant (property, rights, etc.) under the feudal system”) [and other forms], from Old French enfeffer, enfieffer (compare Anglo-Latin infeoffāre, Anglo-Norman enfeoffer), from en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’) + fief (“estate held by a person on condition of providing military service to a superior”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peḱu- (“livestock, especially sheep or cattle”)). The English word is analysable as en- + feoff.