faerien.adj.
/ˈfɛːri/, U.S. /ˈfɛri/ A. n.
1.
a. A supernatural being or magical creature; a fairy. Cf. fairy n. 3a.Often used interchangeably in this sense with fairy n. 3a, but sometimes (esp. in recent use) the form faerie is deliberately chosen to describe beings which differ from the conventional representation of fairies as small, delicate winged creatures, esp. in being more dangerous or sinister.With quot. 1637 cf. fairy of the mine n. at fairy n. and adj. Phrases 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > fairy or elf > [noun]
elfOE
elvena1100
spiritc1350
fay1393
fairyc1405
mammeta1425
sprite?1440
lady1538
faerie1579
Robin Goodfellow1588
elfin1590
pigwidgeon1594
pygmy1611
fairess1674
peri1739
spriggan1754
fane1806
glendoveer1810
vila1827
Polong1839
Gandharva1846
elle-maid1850
sheogue1852
hillman1882
elvet1885
pishogue1906
1579 E. K. in E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. June 25 Gloss. The opinion of Faeries and elfes is very old, and yet sticketh very religiously in the myndes of some.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. iv. sig. D2 The stout Faery..Thought all their glorie vaine.
1637 J. Milton Comus 15 No goblin, or swart Faërie of the mine Has hurtfull power oer true virginity.
a1718 T. Parnell Poems Several Occasions (1721) 41 The Faeries bragly foot the Floor.
1786 S. Henley Notes in tr. W. Beckford Arabian Tale 255 Here, also, the Peries, or Faeries, were supposed, in ordinary, to reside.
1819 J. Keats Cap & Bells xi, in R. M. Milnes Life, Lett. & Literary Remains Keats (1848) II. 219 With special strictures on the horrid crime..Of faeries stooping on their wings sublime To kiss a mortal's lips.
1893 W. B. Yeats in Bookman May 43/1 The berries were the food of the Tuatha de Danaan, or faeries.
1951 C. S. Lewis Lett. (1966) 234 The desolate coast on which it stands is haunted by ‘the good people’. There is also a ghost but..the faeries are a more serious danger.
2001 N. Griffiths Sheepshagger 49 A lone bee rises from a pink cluster of thrifts,..flying upright like a faery.
2005 M. Oxbrow & I. Robertson Rosslyn & Grail vii. 89 A ‘faerie’ does not flutter. A faerie may be as tall as a human or even larger. It may be ugly and twisted, malevolent and vicious.
b. With the and plural agreement: faeries collectively. Cf. fairy n. 2b. rare before 20th cent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > fairy or elf > [noun] > collectively
fairya1375
good neighboura1585
faerie1612
good peoplea1692
small people1696
little people1719
Sidhe1724
gentrya1731
little mena1731
small folk1785
little folk1791
gentlefolk1795
the wee folk1819
good folk1820
Pharisee1823
gentle-people1832
fairyhood1844
folk of peace1875
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion iv. 62 The feasts that vnder-ground the Faërie did him make.
a1896 W. Morris Wks. (1914) XXI. 260 I doubt if the Faery themselves might have wrought it better.
1904 W. B. Yeats Let. 18 Jan. (1994) III. 520 I think they were delighted to talk about Ireland & the faery.
2003 newWitch Spring 11/1 Beltaine..was a time when converse..between mortals and the Faerie was more likely.
2. The (imaginary) realm or world of the faeries. Also: the mythical world depicted in Spenser's allegorical poem The Faerie Queene, which bears little resemblance to traditional conceptions of fairyland. Cf. fairy n. 2a, fairyland n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > [noun] > imaginary or remote
utopia1549
faerie1590
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > fairy or elf > [noun] > (conditions resembling) fairyland
fairyc1330
faerie1590
faerie land1590
fairyland1600
Sidhe1724
fairyism1763
fairydom1826
fay-land1870
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. Proem sig. M6 None that breatheth liuing aire does know Where is that happy land of Faery.
1612 B. Jonson Alchemist i. ii. sig. Cv The Queene of Faerie do's not rise, Till it be noone. View more context for this quotation
1762 R. Hurd Lett. Chivalry & Romance viii. 74 That bright form of Glory, whose ravishing beauty..had led him out into these miraculous adventures in the land of Faery.
1817 P. B. Shelley Laon & Cythna Ded. i. p. xxv Some victor Knight of Faëry.
1828 T. Carlyle in Foreign Rev. 1 464 Elfin bells when the Queen of Faery rides by moonlight.
1835 N. P. Willis Pencillings II. xlix. 80 A grass so verdant..that it seems the very floor of faëry.
1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise I. ii. 554 Men dreaded there to see The uncouth things of faërie.
1916 M. L. Reynolds Geraint of Devon iv. 65 And Geraint Remembered him of Launfal, and the fay, And how they rode to Faerie.
1964 J. R. R. Tolkien On Fairy Stories in Tree & Leaf 11 Faerie is a perilous land, and in it are pitfalls for the unwary and dungeons for the overbold.
1999 Interzone Feb. 56/2 Beyond the gate is a meadow at the border of Faerie.
B. adj. (chiefly attributive)
Having the ethereal or magical qualities associated with faeries, or with the realm or world in which they are supposed to live; enchanted; illusory; = fairy adj. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > ghost or phantom > [adjective]
fantastic1483
fantasticalc1485
spectrical1609
sprightlya1616
spectrene1652
spectrous1652
shadowy1681
visionary1697
ghostly1753
faerie1767
spectry1796
spectral1816
spectrish1822
apparitional1824
phantasiastic1830
spooky1854
astral1877
the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > [adjective] > very or divinely beautiful
celestial1430
spiritual1481
celestious1542
faerie1767
ambrosial1817
celestialized1826
the world > existence and causation > existence > substantiality or concreteness > unsubstantiality or abstractness > [adjective] > unsubstantial or merely apparent
shadowy1374
phantom?c1450
shadowish1561
dreamish1563
fleshlessa1592
dreamya1594
shadowed1597
unreal1605
phantasmatic1607
dreamlike1615
umbratilous1637
phantasmatical1642
umbratile1647
moonshine1668
phantomical1687
visionary1697
faerie1767
filmlike1804
phantasmal1805
spectral1816
moonshiny1821
phantomatica1834
parheliacal1852
phantomic1878
translunar1927
celluloid1928
1767 W. J. Mickle Concubine ii. 40 Their faerie Charmes the Summer Bowres displaid.
1807 W. Wordsworth To Cuckoo viii, in Poems II. 59 The Earth..Again appears to be An unsubstantial, faery place.
1890 R. Bridges Shorter Poems iii. v. 52 To taste the faery cheer Of spirits in a dream.
1919 ‘K. Mansfield’ Let. 21 Oct. (1993) III. 40 We three could spend a wonderful time in this house. It's a bit faëry—the light trembles on the wall from the water and dances in flecks from the olive trees.
1941 L. MacNeice Poetry of Yeats v. 98 The hero of this poem..is a man sailing through faerie seas haunted by man-headed birds.
2004 R. McCleary Special Illumination vi. 152 His anarchic..playful mysticism had a faerie resonance.
Compounds
C1.
a. Appositive, as faerie elf, faerie folk, etc.
ΚΠ
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. Introd. ii Lay forth..The antique rolles..Of Faerie knights.
1607 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas II. Posthumus Bartas 65 Many a Faerie Faune With lustie frisks..bring-in Th' Antike [Fr. Boufons, mettent en ieu cent foles mascarades].
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 781 Faerie Elves, Whose midnight Revels..some belated Peasant sees. View more context for this quotation
a1718 T. Parnell Poems Several Occasions (1721) 37 The rest their Faerie Partners found.
1793 R. Polwhele Hist. Views Devonshire 27 The moon-light vallies of Danmonium were filled with the faery people.
1809 Ann. Rev. & Hist. of Lit. 1808 547/2 His faery bride informed him, that he must not..request to see her face till their wedlock.
1894 W. B. Yeats Celtic Twilight 94 The night-capped heads of faery-doctors may be thrust from their doors to see what mischief the ‘gentry’ are doing.
1920 R. Le Gallienne Junk-man ii. 58 A faery woman sits and softly sings.
2008 L. K. Hamilton Swallowing Darkness ix. 97 It was cold forged iron—the very worst thing you could use on faerie folk.
b. General attributive, as faerie feet, faerie lore, etc.
ΚΠ
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. ix. sig. V4 The Palmer him forth drew From Faery court.
1652 R. Brome Joviall Crew iv. i. sig. K2v A House..built upon Faery-Ground.
1655 in J. Mennes & J. Smith Musarum Deliciæ 34 He windes, and then his Faeries skip: At that, the lazy dawn'gan sound, And each did trip a Faery round.
1658 A. Cokayne Chain of Golden Poems 8 If..thou hadst liv'd so long, As to have finished thy Faery Song..Thou hadst exceeded old Mæonides.
1715 S. Croxall Vision 5 Here, if we credit Fame, the Faery Court Nightly frequent in Festival Resort.
1796 S. T. Coleridge Songs of Pixies vi, in Poems Var. Subj. 22 Or thro' the mystic ringlets of the vale We flash our faery feet in gamesome prank.
1849 B. Taylor Rhymes of Trav. iii. 96 He slept in the ceaseless midnight cold By the faery spell possessed.
1917 Harper's Mag. Oct. 750/2 Irish wit and faery lore are delightfully mingled.
2011 C. Adrian Great Night 163 The strongest mortal liquor was weak compared to faerie wine.
c. Instrumental, as faerie-born, faerie-haunted, etc.
ΚΠ
1763 J. Langhorne Genius & Valour 9 No more of Leader's faery-haunted shore.
1853 W. Gibson Vision of Faery Land 153 This hallowed hour and place..seem faery-charmed to grace The rest of one so fair.
1894 Cambr. Rev. 31 May 373/2 She played the faery-charmed maiden with sympathy and grace.
1896 J. Le Gay Brereton Song of Brotherhood 119 Knowest thou not I am faery born?
1921 J. C. Miller Veils of Samite 14 Those faery-haunted hills and singing streams Keep tryst for him.
2001 J. M. Greer Monsters (2004) 91/1 A traveler at night is faery-led into a bog.
d. Similative, as faerie-fair, faerie-frail, etc., and parasynthetic, as faerie-featured.
ΚΠ
1838 R. M. Milnes Mem. Resid. on Continent 85 So faery-frail, so faery-fair.
1894 J. Barlow End of Elfintown i. 13 Nor words are mine To tell what fancies Faery-fine Did hall and chamber garnish.
1950 F. Feikema Brother 55 He..saw her tiny faery-featured face in a half-wakeful dream.
2007 M. Downs House of Good Hope viii. 241 Kay, faerie-faced with straightened black hair.
C2.
faerie land n. = fairyland n.
ΚΠ
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. Introd. iv Of faery lond yet if he more inquyre By certein signes..He may it find.
1652 P. Heylyn Cosmographie App. sig. Bbbbb3v Faerie land, is another part of this Terra Incognita; the habitation of the Faeries, a pretty kind of little fiends, or Pigmey devils.
1777 J. Richardson Diss. Eastern Nations 145 One of the most famous adventurers in Faery-land is Tahmuras, an ancient Persian king.
1839 H. Hallam Introd. Lit. Europe II. v. 334 The legends of Faeryland.
1906 Punch 20 May 362/2 Gardens that breathe the subtle atmosphere of faërieland.
1999 Sunday Herald (Glasgow) 12 Sept. (Seven Days section) 9/3 The talking animals and ragged witches of faery-land.
faerie tale n. = fairy tale n.
ΚΠ
1752 T. Newton Milton's Paradise Regained 365 Shakspear..has introduc'd..faery tales in several of his plays.
1796 E. Ledwich Statist. Acct. Parish Aghaboe iii. 30 Faery tales and romantic representations of clerical wealth and luxury.
1866 T. C. Irwin Poems 35 The world has still its faery tale; Still new Alladins search for gold.
1988 R. E. Feist (title) Faerie tale.
2006 Scotsman (Nexis) 10 Feb. 23 Marrying Meg..is a comedy based on faerie tales of the Borders.
faerie queen n. = fairy queen n.In quot. 1580: the manuscript of Spenser's The Faerie Queene, somewhat personified.
ΚΠ
1580 G. Harvey in E. Spenser & G. Harvey Three Proper & Wittie Lett. 41 In good faith I had once againe nigh forgotten your Faerie Queene: howbeit by good chaunce, I haue nowe sent hir home at the laste, neither in better nor worse case, than I founde hir.
1590 E. Spenser (title) The faerie queene.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) iv. vi. 20 To night at Hernes-Oke..Must my sweet Nan present the Faerie-Queene . View more context for this quotation
1796 S. T. Coleridge Songs of Pixies viii, in Poems Var. Subj. 24 Sweet Nymph! proclaim'd our Faery Queen.
1888 W. Allingham Flower Pieces 17 What noble knighthood there did swiftly arm For high emprises of the Faëry Queen!
1990 Dragon Mag. Mar. 40/1 The Faerie Queen greatly resents uninvited visitors.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.adj.1579