4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Fairy  \Fair"y\,  a. 
  1.  Of  or  pertaining  to  fairies. 
 
  2.  Given  by  fairies;  as  fairy  money.  --Dryden. 
 
  {Fairy  bird}  (Zo["o]l.),  the  Euoropean  little  tern  ({Sterna 
  minuta});  --  called  also  {sea  swallow},  and  {hooded  tern}. 
 
 
  {Fairy  bluebird}.  (Zo["o]l.)  See  under  {Bluebird}. 
 
  {Fairy  martin}  (Zo["o]l.),  a  European  swallow  ({Hirrundo 
  ariel})  that  builds  flask-shaped  nests  of  mud  on 
  overhanging  cliffs. 
 
  {Fairy}  {rings  or  circles},  the  circles  formed  in  grassy 
  lawns  by  certain  fungi  (as  {Marasmius  Oreades}),  formerly 
  supposed  to  be  caused  by  fairies  in  their  midnight  dances. 
 
 
  {Fairy  shrimp}  (Zo["o]l.),  a  European  fresh-water  phyllopod 
  crustacean  ({Chirocephalus  diaphanus});  --  so  called  from 
  its  delicate  colors,  transparency,  and  graceful  motions. 
  The  name  is  sometimes  applied  to  similar  American  species. 
 
 
  {Fairy  stone}  (Paleon.),  an  echinite. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  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. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  fairy 
  adj  :  or  or  pertaining  to  or  resembling  (especially  in  delicacy)  a 
  fairy  or  fairies  [syn:  {faery},  {fearie}] 
  n  1:  small  human  in  form  playful,  having  magical  powers  [syn:  {faery}, 
  {faerie},  {sprite}] 
  2:  a  disparaging  term  for  an  openly  homosexual  man  [syn:  {fagot}, 
  {faggot},  {fag},  {pansy},  {queer},  {poof},  {poove},  {pouf}] 
 
  From  THE  DEVIL'S  DICTIONARY  ((C)1911  Released  April  15  1993)  [devils]: 
 
  FAIRY,  n.  A  creature,  variously  fashioned  and  endowed,  that  formerly 
  inhabited  the  meadows  and  forests.  It  was  nocturnal  in  its  habits, 
  and  somewhat  addicted  to  dancing  and  the  theft  of  children.  The 
  fairies  are  now  believed  by  naturalist  to  be  extinct,  though  a 
  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England  saw  three  near  Colchester  as  lately 
  as  1855,  while  passing  through  a  park  after  dining  with  the  lord  of 
  the  manor.  The  sight  greatly  staggered  him  and  he  was  so  affected 
  that  his  account  of  it  was  incoherent.  In  the  year  1807  a  troop  of 
  fairies  visited  a  wood  near  Aix  and  carried  off  the  daughter  of  a 
  peasant,  who  had  been  seen  to  enter  it  with  a  bundle  of  clothing.  The 
  son  of  a  wealthy  _bourgeois_  disappeared  about  the  same  time,  but 
  afterward  returned.  He  had  seen  the  abduction  been  in  pursuit  of  the 
  fairies.  Justinian  Gaux,  a  writer  of  the  fourteenth  century,  avers 
  that  so  great  is  the  fairies'  power  of  transformation  that  he  saw  one 
  change  itself  into  two  opposing  armies  and  fight  a  battle  with  great 
  slaughter,  and  that  the  next  day  after  it  had  resumed  its  original 
  shape  and  gone  away  there  were  seven  hundred  bodies  of  the  slain 
  which  the  villagers  had  to  bury.  He  does  not  say  if  any  of  the 
  wounded  recovered.  In  the  time  of  Henry  III,  of  England,  a  law  was 
  made  which  prescribed  the  death  penalty  for  "Kyllynge,  wowndynge  or 
  mamynge"  a  fairy,  and  it  was  universally  respected. 
 
 

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