fairy
Part of speech: noun
adj
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: human-sciences
mysticism
mythology
philosophy
sciences
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.
Base: fay
Affixes: -ry
Inflected forms:
form: fairies
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: faery
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: faëry
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: faerie
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: faërie
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: færie
pos: noun
tags: alternative
archaic
nonstandard
form: fairie
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: more fairy
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most fairy
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: faery
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: faëry
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: faerie
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: faërie
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: færie
pos: adj
tags: alternative
archaic
nonstandard
form: fairie
pos: adj
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: The realm of faerie; enchantment, illusion.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
uncountable
examples: These he knew by their fiery eyes, and knew that he was at last in the land of Fairy.
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: "They used to say there were fairies in that hill, I must tell you!"
gloss: An enchantress, or creature of overpowering charm.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: An attractive young woman.
pos: noun
tags: UK
colloquial
countable
obsolete
uncountable
examples: "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."
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.
gloss: A male homosexual, especially one who is effeminate.
pos: noun
tags: Northern-England
US
colloquial
countable
derogatory
uncountable
gloss: An effeminate man or boy.
pos: noun
tags: countable
derogatory
uncountable
examples: 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.
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.
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.
gloss: A member of two species of hummingbird in the genus Heliothryx.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: A legendary Chinese immortal.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: Like a fairy; fanciful, whimsical, delicate.
pos: adj
Derived words: afairyist
airy fairy
airy-fairy
Barry the Fairy
fairily
fairy ballet
fairy barrow
fairy-beads
fairybells
fairy-bluebird
fairy bluebird
fairybook
fairy bread
fairy butter
fairy cake
fairy castle cactus
fairy chess
fairy chimney
fairy chip
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 gerygone
fairy godfather
fairy godmother
fairy godparent
fairy hill
Fairy Hill
fairyhood
fairyish
fairyism
fairy kei
fairykind
fairy lace
fairy lamp
fairy land
fairyland
fairy-land
fairylandish
fairy lantern
fairyless
fairylet
fairy light
fairy lights
fairylike
fairy lily
fairyling
fairy liquid
fairy-lit
fairylore
fairy lorikeet
fairy martin
Fairy Meadow
fairy mist
fairy money
fairy moss
fairy mound
fairyness
fairy nuff
fairyology
fairy opera
fairy penguin
fairy piece
fairy pitta
fairy possum
fairy primrose
fairy prion
fairy problem
fairy puke
fairy rath
fairy ring
fairy ring agaric
fairy ring champignon
fairy ring mushroom
fairyship
fairy shrimp
fairy snuff
fairysome
fairy stone
fairy story
fairy swallow
fairy swords
fairy-tale ending
fairy tale
fairy-tale
fairytale
fairy-talelike
fairy tern
fairy thorn
fairy wand
fairy warbler
fairywren
fairy wren
green fairy
hair fairy
kissed on the dick by a fairy
Mount Fairy
Persian fairy floss
pink fairy armadillo
prairie fairy
san fairy ann
sea fairy
Sky Fairy
sky fairy
southern fairy
tooth fairy
water fairy
yellow-bellied fairy-fantail
Translations: