Meaning

noun a legal document signed and sealed and delivered to effect a transfer of property and to show the legal right to possess it

noun something that people do or cause to happen

originFrom Middle English dede, from Old English dēd, dǣd (“deed, act”), from Proto-West Germanic *dādi, from Proto-Germanic *dēdiz (“deed”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁tis (“deed, action”). Analyzable through Proto-Germanic as do + -th. Doublet of thesis. The real estate sense derives from the fact that property deeds are traditionally used to demonstrate proof of ownership of a legal title in…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0