資料來源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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.