Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Fairy?

\Fair"y\, n.; pl. {Fairies}. [OE. fairie, faierie, enchantment, fairy folk, fairy, OF. faerie enchantment, F. f['e]er, fr. LL. Fata one of the goddesses of fate. See {Fate}, and cf. {Fay} a fairy.] [Written also {fa["e]ry}.] 1. Enchantment; illusion. [Obs.] --Chaucer. The God of her has made an end, And fro this worlde's fairy Hath taken her into company. --Gower. 2. The country of the fays; land of illusions. [Obs.] He [Arthur] is a king y-crowned in Fairy. --Lydgate. 3. An imaginary supernatural being or spirit, supposed to assume a human form (usually diminutive), either male or female, and to meddle for good or evil in the affairs of mankind; a fay. See {Elf}, and {Demon}. The fourth kind of spirit [is] called the Fairy. --K. James. And now about the caldron sing, Like elves and fairies in a ring. --Shak. 5. An enchantress. [Obs.] --Shak. {Fairy of the mine}, an imaginary being supposed to inhabit mines, etc. German folklore tells of two species; one fierce and malevolent, the other gentle, See {Kobold}. No goblin or swart fairy of the mine Hath hurtful power over true virginity. --Milton.
\Fair"y\, a. 1. Of or pertaining to fairies. 2. Given by fairies; as, fairy money. --Dryden. {Fairy bird} (Zo["o]l.), the Euoropean little tern ({Sterna minuta}); -- called also {sea swallow}, and {hooded tern}. {Fairy bluebird}. (Zo["o]l.) See under {Bluebird}. {Fairy martin} (Zo["o]l.), a European swallow ({Hirrundo ariel}) that builds flask-shaped nests of mud on overhanging cliffs. {Fairy} {rings or circles}, the circles formed in grassy lawns by certain fungi (as {Marasmius Oreades}), formerly supposed to be caused by fairies in their midnight dances. {Fairy shrimp} (Zo["o]l.), a European fresh-water phyllopod crustacean ({Chirocephalus diaphanus}); -- so called from its delicate colors, transparency, and graceful motions. The name is sometimes applied to similar American species. {Fairy stone} (Paleon.), an echinite.