fairy

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   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.

   "They used to say there were fairies in that hill, I must tell you!"

2. 2
   noun

   An attractive young woman.

   "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."

3. 3
   noun

   An effeminate man or boy.

   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.

4. 4
   noun

   a small being, human in form, playful and having magical powers

5. 5
   noun

   offensive term for an openly homosexual man

6. 6
   noun

   The realm of faerie; enchantment, illusion.

7. 7
   noun

   An enchantress, or creature of overpowering charm.

8. 8
   noun

   A male homosexual, especially one who is effeminate.

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 li…