Ethiopic syllable Fee

In Keyman GFF 3.3, type f, then i, then e.

That sequence belongs to this layout. In Keyman GFF 3.3, f alone and f+e select other forms; the keystrokes vary across Ethiopic keyboards.

What does ፌ mean?

It is one syllable in the Ethiopic f-series.

Amharic romanization writes it fē; for an English approximation, use f as in “fine” and e as in “bed.” In an Amharic word it helps spell the word, rather than standing for a whole message: ፌዝ means “joke,” and ፌዘኛ means “joker.”

Where did Ethiopic writing come from?

It grew over time from an older consonant-writing tradition.

South Arabian writing reached the Horn of Africa around the end of the first millennium BCE. Clearly identifiable Ethiopic inscriptions date from the second/third centuries CE, and vowel marking had developed by the fourth century. Royal Aksumite inscriptions used Ge'ez alongside South Arabian writing; later prayer books in Ge'ez, a liturgical language, carried worship texts.

That is a historical link, not just a resemblance: South Arabian-script inscriptions in the Horn are part of Ethiopic's predecessor context. Ethiopic later served Ge'ez, Amharic, Tigrinya, and Tigre; the spoken reading of each form depends on the language.