fairy

CEFRA2

/ˈfɛəɹi/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A small imaginary creature with magical powers.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    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...

Examples

  • The little girl was absorbed in reading a fairy tale.

  • When I was a child, my mother would often read fairy tales to me.

At a glance

Sits at A2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈfeːɹiː/
  • /ˈfeɾe/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. An enchantress, or creature of overpowering charm.

  2. The realm of faerie; enchantment, illusion.

  3. 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.

More examples

In context

  • These he knew by their fiery eyes, and knew that he was at last in the land of Fairy.

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

  • 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.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The little girl dressed up as a tiny blank with glittery wings.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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.