fancy
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfæn.si/
rhymes: -ænsi
Forms: form: fancies
form: fancying
form: fancied
form: fancied
form: fancie
form: fansie
form: fant’sy
form: phancie
form: phancy
form: phansie
form: phansy
form: phant’sy
Etymology: From Middle English fancien, fantasien, fantesien, from Old French fantasier, from the noun (see above)).
Senses: examples: text: I fancy your new car, but I like my old one just fine.
glosses: To appreciate without jealousy or greed.
examples: text: I fancy a burger tonight for dinner.
text: Do you fancy going to town this weekend?
synonyms: feel like
glosses: Would like; have a desire for.
examples: text: I fancy that girl over there.
text: How can you fancie one that lookes so fierce, / Onely diſpoſed to martiall Stratagems? / UUho when he ſhal embrace you in his arms / UUil tell how many thouſand men he ſlew.
ref: c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene ii:
synonyms: word: like
glosses: To be sexually, aesthetically or romantically attracted to.
examples: text: [dated] I fancy you'll want something to drink after your long journey.
text: I fancy this is an error.
text: Fancy meeting you here!
text: Fancy that! I saw Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy kissing in the garden.
text: You won't get the gig just because you fancy yourself a musician.
text: If our search has reached no farther than simile and metaphor, we rather fancy than know.
ref: a. 1705, John Locke, “Of the Conduct of the Understanding”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, →OCLC:
text: Quiet and dark, beside him stood the Phantom, with its outstretched hand. When he roused himself from his thoughtful quest, he fancied from the turn of the hand, and its situation in reference to himself, that the Unseen Eyes were looking at him keenly. It made him shudder, and feel very cold.
ref: 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Four. The Last of the Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 128:
text: He fancied he was welcome, because those around him were his kinsmen.
ref: 1857–1859, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, The Virginians. A Tale of the Last Century, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1858–1859, →OCLC:
text: “Fancy a French waiter at a club,” said his friend.
The young Englishman started a little, as if he could not fancy it.
ref: 1878, Henry James, An International Episode:
text: I fancied at first the stuff was paraffin wax, and smashed the jar accordingly. But the odor of camphor was unmistakable.
ref: 1895 May 29, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter X, in The Time Machine: An Invention, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC:
text: Appleby […] rose from his seat when Morales came in. He shook hands urbanely, unbuckled his sword, and laid his kepi on the table, and then sat down with an expression of concern in his olive face which Appleby fancied was assumed.
ref: 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 22, in The Dust of Conflict:
glosses: To imagine, suppose.
raw_tags: in a set phrase
examples: text: he whom I fancy, but can ne'er express
ref: 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Seventh Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:
text: It was such a scene of confusion as you can hardly fancy. All the lockfast places had been broken open in quest of the chart.
ref: 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
synonyms: imagine
glosses: To form a conception of; to portray in the mind.
examples: text: We fancy not the cardinal.
ref: 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]:
glosses: To have a fancy for; to like; to be pleased with, particularly on account of external appearance or manners.
examples: text: I would recommend this little book very highly to anyone who fancies pigeons, novices and veterans alike.
ref: 1973, American Pigeon Journal, page 159:
glosses: To breed (animals) as a hobby.
Derived terms: disfancy
fanciable
fancier
fancy is as fancy does
fancy one's chances
fancy seeing you here
fancy that
fancy up
I don't fancy yours
Related terms: fantasy
fancy man
fancypants
fancy woman
fancy is as fancy does