# fairy
## English
### Alternative forms

* faery, faëry
* faerie, faërie
* færie (archaic, nonstandard)
* fairie

### Etymology

From Middle English faierie, fairie, from Old French faerie, from fae + -erie, from Latin fāta (“goddess of fate”). Equivalent to fey +‎ -ry. Attested in English from about 1330, in King Alisaunder, first in the sense of "enchantment, illusion, dream" ("that thou herdest is fairye") and shortly thereafter "realm of the fays, fairy-land" and "the inhabitants of fairyland, collectively". The re-interpretation of the term as a countable noun denoting individual inhabitants of fairy-land can be traced to the 1390s, but became common only in the 16th century, perhaps due to reinterpreting phrases like faerie knight.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈfɛəɹi/
* (General Australian) IPA: /ˈfeːɹi/
* (General American) enPR: fârʹē
** (without the Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA: /ˈfɛə̯ɹi/
** (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA: /ˈfɛɹi/
*** Audio (US, Mary–marry–merry merger):(file)
* (New Zealand, without the cheer–chair merger) IPA: /ˈfeəɹi/
* (New Zealand, cheer–chair merger) IPA: /ˈfiəɹi/
* (Scotland) IPA: /ˈfeɹɪ/, /ˈfeɹe/
* (Lancashire, fair–fur merger) IPA: /ˈfɜːɹɪ/
* Rhymes: -ɛəɹi
* Homophones: ferry (Mary–marry–merry merger), furry (fair–fur merger)

### Noun

fairy (countable and uncountable, plural fairies)
* (uncountable, obsolete) The realm of faerie; enchantment, illusion.
* (mythology) A mythical being of human form with magical powers, known in many sizes and descriptions, although often depicted in modern illustrations only as a small sprite with gauze-like wings, especially one that is female. Fairies are revered in some modern forms of paganism.
** 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 51:"They used to say there were fairies in that hill, I must tell you!"
* An enchantress, or creature of overpowering charm.
* (British, obsolete, colloquial) An attractive young woman.
** 1920, H. C. McNeile "Snapper", 'Bulldog Drummond'‎:"When are we going to see this fairy?" demanded Algy. "You, personally, never. You're far too immoral. I might let the others look at her from a distance in a year or two."
** 1942, Dennis Wheatley, 'Gunmen, Gallants and Ghosts'‎:As she took out her key she was quite unaware that three pairs of eyes were watching her with interest from across the street. [...] ‘Strewth–’e ain’t ‘arf got a fairy this time,’ remarked the husky Mr. Clegg.
* (Northern England, US, derogatory, colloquial) A male homosexual, especially one who is effeminate.
** 1933, Nathanael West, 'Miss Lonelyhearts' : [Miss Lonelyhearts is male.]:The cripple returned the smile and stuck out his hand. Miss Lonelyhearts clasped it, and they stood this way, smiling and holding hands, until Mrs. Doyle reëntered the room. "What a sweet pair of fairies you guys are," she said. The cripple pulled his hand away and made as though to strike his wife.
** 1957, Jack Kerouac, chapter 4, in On the Road, Viking Press, →OCLC, part 3:We saw a horrible sight in the bar: a white hipster fairy had come in wearing a Hawaiian shirt and was asking the big drummer if he could sit in.
** 1989, Marshall Kirk, Hunter Madsen, After the Ball: How America Will Conquer Its Fear and Hatred of Gays in the '90s, Doubleday Books, page 20:Wimpy names—e.g., Cecil, Clarence, and Wendell—also seem to carry homosexual overtones, because we all know that fairies are meek and wimpy, just as we know that all wimps are ‘fags’ in one sense or the other.
* A member of two species of hummingbird in the genus Heliothryx.
* A legendary Chinese immortal.
    Synonyms: xian, immortal

#### Synonyms

* (supernatural creature): fay, fey, fae, sprite; see also goblin (hostile)
* (male homosexual): fag (US), faggot (US), poof (UK), queen

#### Derived terms

* afairyist
* airy-fairy
* airy fairy
* Barry the Fairy
* fairily
* fairy ballet
* fairy-beads
* fairybells
* fairy-bluebird
* fairy bluebird
* fairybook
* fairy bread
* fairy butter
* fairy cake
* fairy castle cactus
* fairy chess
* fairy chimney
* fairy chip
* fairy chips
* fairy circle
* fairy clap
* fairycore
* fairy cycle
* fairy dart
* fairydom
* fairy door
* fairy dust
* fairy floss
* fairyfly
* fairy flycatcher
* fairy folk
* fairy fort
* fairy garden
* fairy godmother
* fairy hill
* fairyhood
* fairyish
* fairyism
* fairy kei
* fairykind
* fairy lace
* fairy lamp
* fairyland
* fairy land
* fairy-land
* fairy light
* fairy lights
* fairylike
* fairy lily
* fairy liquid
* fairy-lit
* fairylore
* fairy martin
* fairy money
* fairy moss
* fairyness
* fairy nuff
* fairyology
* fairy opera
* fairy penguin
* fairy possum
* fairy primrose
* fairy problem
* fairy puke
* fairy ring
* fairy ring champignon
* fairyship
* fairy shrimp
* fairy snuff
* fairysome
* fairy stone
* fairy story
* fairy swords
* fairy-tale ending
* fairy tale, fairy-tale, fairytale
* fairy-talelike
* fairy tern
* fairy thorn
* fairywren
* fairy wren
* green fairy
* hair fairy
* Persian fairy floss
* pink fairy armadillo
* prairie fairy
* san fairy ann
* sea fairy
* Sky Fairy
* sky fairy
* southern fairy
* tooth fairy
* water fairy

#### Translations
### Adjective

fairy (comparative more fairy, superlative most fairy)
* Like a fairy; fanciful, whimsical, delicate.
** 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XX, in Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 287:….—a large cashmere shawl, with its border of roses, thrown carelessly on a chair—a crimson cushion, where lay sleeping a Blenheim dog, almost small enough to have passed through the royal ring in that most fairy tale of the White Cat:—all bespoke a lady's room.

### References

* 1 2 James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Fairy”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.
* ↑ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “fairy”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

## Spanish
### Etymology

From genericized trademark Fairy.

### Noun

fairy m (uncountable)
* (Spain) washing-up liquid, dish soap
    Synonyms: lavavajillas, lavavajillas líquido
** 2022 January 23, Janire Manzanas, “¿Se pueden limpiar las gafas con Fairy?”, in OkDiario‎:Sin embargo, no siempre tenemos una gamuza a mano, así que recurrimos a otras soluciones, como limpiar las gafas con Fairy y agua.However, we don't always have a chamois on hand, so we turn to other solutions, such as cleaning the glasses with Fairy and water.
** 2019 March 5, “Así es la "trampa del Fairy" de Millo que desata las risas en redes”, in El Plural‎:El exdelegado del Gobierno en Cataluña Josep Enric Millo se ha referido este martes durante su declaración en el juicio del 'procés' en el Supremo a la "trampa del Fairy" como uno de los tipos de agresión que sufrieron los agentes que participaron en el dispositivo desplegado en la jornada del referéndum del 1 de octubre en Cataluña.(please add an English translation of this quotation)