What does fice mean?
A fice is a small, lively dog, typically of mixed ancestry, known more for its spirit than its pedigree. The word is essentially a regional American variant of "feist," the term long used in the rural South and Midland United States for small, scrappy farm dogs and squirrel-hunting companions. To call a dog a fice is affectionately unflattering — it implies a snappy, vocal, working-class animal rather than a show-quality pet, and the term appears almost exclusively in folk speech, country writing, and accounts of rural life. Though rarely found in modern urban vocabulary, it survives in place names, hunting lore, and dialect across the American South. For readers of frontier and Southern literature, knowing "fice" helps decode descriptions of the small, tenacious dogs that were once fixtures of nearly every farmhouse.
nounA small, scrappy dog, especially one of mixed breeding; a variant form of the word "feist."
- A small, often mixed-breed dog of lively or snappy temperament; a variant of "feist."
"The old farmer kept a fice tied by the barn that barked at everything that moved."
"A yapping little fice darted out from under the porch to greet us."
"He hunted squirrels with nothing but a .22 and a trusty fice."
Standard pluralization; the plural is uncommon since the word itself is rare.
"The yard seemed overrun with fices, each noisier than the last."
Before it was ever spelled down on paper, this scrappy little farm dog's name was traced all the way back to an Old Norse word meaning 'to break wind' — humble origins for such a spirited breed.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of fice
"Fice" derives from "feist," the American term for a small mongrel or terrier-type dog, which itself descends from the older English word "foist" (or "fisting hound"), a name recorded in early modern England for a small dirty dog. English etymologists traced "foist" back to Old Norse "fysa," related to breaking wind — a coarse joke embedded deep in the word's history. Settlers carried the term to America, where regional pronunciation turned it into "fice" and, in some areas, into distinct small hunting dogs now called Mountain Feists.
How fice is actually used
"Fice" is chiefly American, and strongest in the rural South and Midland states; elsewhere "feist" or simply "mutt" is more likely to be heard. The word carries folksy, informal connotations rather than prestige.
Easily confused with fice
"Feist" is the more common and standard term for a small hunting terrier-type dog, while "fice" is a regional variant spelling and pronununciation of essentially the same word.