From Middle English faierie, fairie, from Old French faerie, from fae (from Latin fāta (“goddess of fate”)) + -erie. 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.
Human sciences, Mysticism, Mythology, Philosophy, Sciences A mythical being of human form with magical powers, known in many sizes and descriptions, although typically depicted as a small sprite with gauze-like wings, especially one that is female. Fairies are revered in some modern forms of paganism.
But for a dreſſing for her head I thinke for her I haue a Tyer, That all Fayryes ſhall admyre.1630, Michael Drayton, The Muses Elizium, Lately diſcouered, by a New Way over Parnassvs, London: Thomas Harper, page 67:
"They used to say there were fairies in that hill, I must tell you!"1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 51:
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Derogatory, Slang A male homosexual, especially one who is effeminate.
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.1933, Nathanael West, 'Miss Lonelyhearts' : [Miss Lonelyhearts is male.]:
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.1957 September 5, Jack Kerouac, chapter 4, in On the Road, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →OCLC, part 3:
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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.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:
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Colloquial An attractive young woman; a small, graceful 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."1920, H. C. McNeile "Snapper", 'Bulldog Drummond':
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.1942, Dennis Wheatley, 'Gunmen, Gallants and Ghosts':
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An enchantress, or creature of overpowering charm.
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A member of two species of hummingbird in the genus Heliothryx.
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A legendary Chinese immortal.
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Obsolete The realm of faerie; enchantment, illusion.
Which is sixteen leagues long, but is so full of Fairie and strange things that few people pass there without being lost or stopt, because therewithin dwelleth a king, Oberon the Fay.1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 61:
These he knew by their fiery eyes, and knew that he was at last in the land of Fairy.1890, Joseph Jacobs, “Childe Rowland”, in English Fairy Tales, page 120:
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Obsolete The land or region inhabited by fairies; fairyland.
Beſides he's deft and wondrous Ayrye, And of the nobleſt of the Fayry, Chiefe of the Crickets of much fame, In Fayry a most ancient name.1630, Michael Drayton, The Muses Elizium, Lately diſcouered, by a New Way over Parnassvs, London: Thomas Harper, page 67:
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Obsolete Fairies considered collectively; fairy folk.
Beſides he's deft and wondrous Ayrye, And of the nobleſt of the Fayry, Chiefe of the Crickets of much fame, In Fayry a most ancient name.1630, Michael Drayton, The Muses Elizium, Lately diſcouered, by a New Way over Parnassvs, London: Thomas Harper, page 67:
So lov'd thy name, that, at their monarch's choice All Fairy ſhouted with a general voice.1748, Thomas Tickell, A Collection of Poems in Three Volumes. By Several Hands, volume I, London: J. Hughs, page 52:
From Middle English faierie, fairie, from Old French faerie, from fae (from Latin fāta (“goddess of fate”)) + -erie. 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.