deal with English[edit] Word history 1[edit] Coming from Middle English fighten , from Old English feohtan (“to battle, fight, strive”), coming from Proto-West Germanic *fehtan , coming from Proto-Germanic *fehtaną (“to brush, aggravate, shear, have a hard time along with”), from Proto-Indo-European *peḱ- (“to comb, shear”). Affiliated along with Scots