fay

¹

[ fey ]

noun

1. a fairy.

fay

²

[ fey ]

noun

, Obsolete.

1. faith.

fay

³

[ fey ]

noun

, Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive.

1. ofay.

Fay

⁴

or Faye

[ fey ]

noun

1. a female given name, form of Faith.

fay

¹

/ feɪ /

noun

1. an obsolete word for faith

fay

²

/ feɪ /

noun

1. a fairy or sprite

adjective

1. of or resembling a fay
2. informal.
   pretentious or precious

fay

³

/ feɪ /

verb

1. to fit or be fitted closely or tightly

Word History and Origins

Origin of fay¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English faie, faie, from Middle French feie, fee, Old French fae, fee, ultimately from Latin Fāta Fate ( def 6 )

Origin of fay²

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English fai, fei, from Anglo-French, variant of feid faith

Origin of fay³

First recorded in 1925–30; by shortening

Word History and Origins

Origin of fay¹

C13: from Anglo-French feid ; see faith

Origin of fay²

C14: from Old French feie , ultimately from Latin fātum fate

Origin of fay³

Old English fēgan to join; related to Old High German fuogen , Latin pangere to fasten

Example Sentences

Others like Fay say that even funding needle-exchange programs is a waste of resources.

From The Daily Beast

Fay Vincent utters Pete Rose's name just about as much as Rudy Giuliani says 9/11.

From The Daily Beast

Screenplay by Robert Riskin, who happens to have been Fay Wray's first husband.

From The Daily Beast

Not even Hurricane Fay, which rammed through the Orlando, Florida, area in August 2008, could wash away the child's legacy.

From The Daily Beast

“There is a tension between what Tea Party groups around the country think and what we do in Massachusetts,” says Fay.

From The Daily Beast

When the time came to part from Frank, little Fay was almost heart-broken.

From Project Gutenberg

I will tell you now that I am ready to go through anything for Fairy Fay.

From Project Gutenberg

The Rev. Eli Fay preached her funeral sermon, and bore testimony to her great ability.

From Project Gutenberg

Again, the fay of Argouges disappears on the name of Death being mentioned in her presence.

From Project Gutenberg

Fay and Cox turned it over to True Williams, one of the well-known illustrators of that day.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• gnome
• goblin
• imp
• leprechaun