Fairy

Part of speech: noun (n.)

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.

4. 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.

Part of speech: adjective (a.)

1. Of or pertaining to fairies.

2. Given by fairies; as, fairy money. Dryden. Fairy bird (Zoöl.), the Euoropean little tern (Sterna minuta); -- called also sea swallow, and hooded tern. -- Fairy bluebird. (Zoöl.) See under Bluebird. -- Fairy martin (Zoöl.), 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 (Zoöl.), 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.