fairy
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfɛəɹi/
ipa: /ˈfeː.ɹi/
enpr: fârʹē
note: without the Mary–marry–merry merger
ipa: /ˈfɛə̯ɹ.i/
note: Mary–marry–merry merger
ipa: /ˈfɛɹ.i/
note: without the cheer–chair merger
ipa: /ˈfeə.ɹi/
note: New Zealand, cheer–chair merger
ipa: /ˈfiə.ɹi/
ipa: /ˈfeɹ.ɪ/
ipa: /ˈfeɹe/
note: Lancashire, fair–fur merger
ipa: /ˈfɜːɹɪ/
rhymes: -ɛəɹi
homophone: ferry (Mary–marry–merry merger)
homophone: furry (fair–fur merger)
Forms: form: fairies
form: faery
form: faëry
form: faerie
form: faërie
form: færie
form: fairie
Etymology: From Middle English faierie, fairie, from Old French faerie, from fae + -erie, from Latin fāta (“goddess of fate”). Equivalent to fay + -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.
Senses: glosses: The realm of faerie; enchantment, illusion.
examples: text: "They used to say there were fairies in that hill, I must tell you!"
ref: 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 51:
topics: human-sciences
mysticism
mythology
philosophy
sciences
glosses: 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.
glosses: An enchantress, or creature of overpowering charm.
examples: text: "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."
ref: 1920, H. C. McNeile "Snapper", 'Bulldog Drummond':
text: 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.
ref: 1942, Dennis Wheatley, 'Gunmen, Gallants and Ghosts':
glosses: An attractive young woman.
glosses: A male homosexual, especially one who is effeminate.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1933, Nathanael West, 'Miss Lonelyhearts' : [Miss Lonelyhearts is male.]:
text: 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.
ref: 1957, Jack Kerouac, chapter 4, in On the Road, Viking Press, →OCLC, part 3:
text: 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.
ref: 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:
glosses: An effeminate man or boy.
glosses: A member of two species of hummingbird in the genus Heliothryx.
synonyms: xian
immortal
glosses: A legendary Chinese immortal.
Synonyms: sense: supernatural creature
word: fay
sense: supernatural creature
word: fey
sense: supernatural creature
word: fae
sense: supernatural creature
word: sprite
sense: supernatural creature
english: hostile
translation: hostile
word: goblin
sense: male homosexual
word: fag
sense: male homosexual
word: faggot
sense: male homosexual
word: poof
sense: male homosexual
word: 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
fairy comment
fairycore
fairy cycle
fairy dart
fairydom
fairy door
fairy dust
fairy duster
fairy fire
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
fairy land
fairyland
fairy-land
fairy lantern
fairy light
fairy lights
fairylike
fairy lily
fairy liquid
fairy-lit
fairylore
fairy martin
fairy mist
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
fairy wand
fairy wren
fairywren
green fairy
hair fairy
kissed on the dick by a fairy
Persian fairy floss
pink fairy armadillo
prairie fairy
san fairy ann
sea fairy
sky fairy
Sky Fairy
southern fairy
tooth fairy
water fairy