From Middle English faierie, fairie, from Old French faerie, from fae + -erie, from Latin fāta.

Attested in English from about 1300, 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".

• (RP) IPA: /ˈfɛəɹi/
• (Australia) IPA: /ˈfeːɹi/
  • (nMmmm) IPA: /ˈfɛə̯ɹi/
  • (Mmmm) IPA: /ˈfɛɹi/

fairy

1. (uncountable, obsolete) The realm of faerie; enchantment, illusion.
2. 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.
3. An enchantress, or creature of overpowering charm.
4. (Britain, obsolete, colloquial) An attractive young woman.
   • 1920, H. C. McNeile "Snapper", 'Bulldog Drummond'‎:

     "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."

   • 1942, Dennis Wheatley, 'Gunmen, Gallants and Ghosts'‎:

     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.

5. (Northern England, US, derogatory, colloquial) A male homosexual, especially one who is effeminate.
   • 1933, Nathanael West, 'Miss Lonelyhearts' : [Miss Lonelyhearts is male.]:

     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.

   • 1957, Jack Kerouac, chapter 4, in On the Road, Viking Press, →OCLC ↗, part 3:

     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.

6. A member of two species of hummingbird in the genus Heliothryx.
7. A legendary Chinese immortal.

   Synonyms: xian, immortal

• (supernatural creature) fay, fey, fae, sprite; see also goblin (hostile)
• (male homosexual) fag (US), faggot (US), poof (UK), queen

• French: fée, féetaud
• German: Fee, Elfe, Feenwesen, Naturgeister, Geist, Alb, Elb, Elben, Kobold
• Italian: fata, foletto, foletta, folletto, folletta
• Portuguese: fada, elfo
• Russian: фе́я
• Spanish: hada, fada

• French: tapette, folle
• Italian: checca, finocchio
• Portuguese: bicha, marica
• Russian: го́мик
• Spanish: marica, mujercita

fairy

1. Like a fairy; fanciful, whimsical, delicate.
   • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XX, in Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC ↗, page 287 ↗:
     ….—a large cashmere shawl, with its border of roses, thrown carelessly on a chair—a crimson cushion, where lay sleeping a Blenheim dog, almost small enough to have passed through the royal ring in that most fairy tale of the White Cat:—all bespoke a lady's room.