fey
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Alternative forms [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Middle English fey (“fated to die”), from Old English fǣge (“doomed to die, timid”), from Proto-Germanic *faigijaz (“cowardly, wicked”), from Proto-Indo-European *pAik-, *pAig- (“ill-meaning, bad”). Akin to Old Saxon fēgi whence Dutch veeg (“doomed, near death”), Old High German feigi (“appointed for death, ungodly”) whence German feige (“cowardly”), Old Norse feigr (“doomed”) whence the Icelandic feigur (“doomed to die”), Old English fāh (“outlawed, hostile”). More at foe.
Pronunciation [edit]
Adjective [edit]
fey (comparative more fey, superlative most fey)
- Magical or fairylike.
- Strange or otherworldly.
- Spellbound.
- (dialectal or archaic) About to die; fated; doomed; on the verge of sudden or violent death.
- (obsolete) Dying; dead.
- (Chiefly Scottish) possessing second sight, clairvoyance, or clairaudience
- overrefined, precious; quaint, cute
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- 2006 January 1, Jennifer Drapkin, “Wrestling with Fame”, Psychology Today, volume 39, number 1, page 50:
- Hoffman does not rely on his talent to carry him through a role. He spent five and a half months transmuting himself into Capote. … He lost 40 pounds and practiced the inscrutable voice and fey mannerisms for an hour or two every day.
- 2009, Robert Cohen, Amateur Barbarians[1], Simon and Schuster, ISBN 9780743230360, page 16:
- He'd stand at the board making jokes the kids didn't understand, improvising fey little couplets of dactylic verse.
- 2009 Oct/Nov, Lucius Shepard, “Halloween Town”, Fantasy and Science Fiction, volume 117, number 3/4, page 129:
- … he did not tell Mary Alonso, who had taken Dell's place as a source of gossip and information, and with whom he went out for drinks on occasion, usually along with Mary's partner, Roberta, a fey, freckly, dark-haired girl, …
- 2011, Héctor Tobar, The Barbarian Nurseries, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, ISBN 9780374708931:
- Guadalupe was a fey mexicana with long braids and a taste for embroidered Oaxacan blouses and overwrought indigenous jewelry, and also a former university student like Araceli.
- 2012 Apr, “Field Guide: The Club Rules”, Town and Country:
- Bespoke designer Kirk Miller, who offers a contemporary version at his Soho atelier, says, "A club collar shows that a man pays attention to detail. It's a simple way to communicate elegance." And please don't call it a Peter Pan, the club's fey sister.
- 2012, Jeffery Goldberg, “What's Your Problem”, The Atlantic Montly, accessed on 2012-09-17:
- Most Ivy League graduates are unaccustomed to pepper spray; perhaps he should spray himself in the face once or twice, to test his tolerance. He should also resist the urge to bring high-end camping equipment to protests—this will make him look fey and elitist.
- 2006 January 1, Jennifer Drapkin, “Wrestling with Fame”, Psychology Today, volume 39, number 1, page 50:
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Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
strange or otherworldly
doomed to die
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Noun [edit]
fey (uncountable)
See also [edit]
Mapudungun [edit]
Pronoun [edit]
fey (using Raguileo Alphabet)
See also [edit]
Mapudungun personal pronouns
Scots [edit]
Noun [edit]
fey (plural feys)
- a premonition of death
Adjective [edit]
- possessing second sight, premonitory
Volapük [edit]
Pronunciation [edit]
- IPA: /fej/
Noun [edit]
fey (plural feys)
Declension [edit]
Categories:
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English adjectives
- English dialectal terms
- English archaic terms
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English nouns
- Mapudungun pronouns
- Scots nouns
- Volapük nouns
