Fay - Definitions from Dictionary.com

fay¹ Audio Help (fā) Pronunciation Key
tr. & intr.v. fayed, fay·ing, fays
To join or fit closely or tightly.

[Middle English feien, from Old English fēgan; see pag- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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fay² Audio Help (fā) Pronunciation Key
n. A fairy or an elf.

[Middle English faie, enchanted person or place, from Old French fae; see fairy.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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fay³ Audio Help (fā) Pronunciation Key
n. Archaic
Faith: "Sirrah, by my fay, it waxes late" (Shakespeare).

[Middle English fai, from Anglo-Norman fei, fed; see faith.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
fay

"fairy," 1393, from O.Fr. fae, from V.L. fata, fem. sing of L. fata (neut. pl.), lit. "the Fates." Adj. meaning "homosexual" is attested from 1950s.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

fay
noun
a small being, human in form, playful and having magical powers [syn: fairy]

U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Fay, OK Zip code(s): 73646

U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Fay

Fadge\, v. i. [Cf. OE. faden to flatter, and AS. f?gan to join, unit, G. f["u]gen, or AS. [=a]f[ae]gian to depict; all perh. form the same root as E. fair. Cf. Fair, a., Fay to fit.] To fit; to suit; to agree.

They shall be made, spite of antipathy, to fadge together. --Milton.

Well, Sir, how fadges the new design ? --Wycherley.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Fay

Fair\, a. [Compar. Fairer; superl. Fairest.] [OE. fair, fayer, fager, AS. f[ae]ger; akin to OS. & OHG. fagar, Icel. fagr, Sw. fager, Dan. faver, Goth. fagrs fit, also to E. fay, G. f["u]gen, to fit. fegen to sweep, cleanse, and prob. also to E. fang, peace, pact, Cf. Fang, Fain, Fay to fit.]

1. Free from spots, specks, dirt, or imperfection; unblemished; clean; pure.

A fair white linen cloth. --Book of Common Prayer.

2. Pleasing to the eye; handsome; beautiful.

Who can not see many a fair French city, for one fair French made. --Shak.

3. Without a dark hue; light; clear; as, a fair skin.

The northern people large and fair-complexioned. --Sir M. Hale.

4. Not overcast; cloudless; clear; pleasant; propitious; favorable; -- said of the sky, weather, or wind, etc.; as, a fair sky; a fair day.

You wish fair winds may waft him over. --Prior.

5. Free from obstacles or hindrances; unobstructed; unincumbered; open; direct; -- said of a road, passage, etc.; as, a fair mark; in fair sight; a fair view.

The caliphs obtained a mighty empire, which was in a fair way to have enlarged. --Sir W. Raleigh.

6. (Shipbuilding) Without sudden change of direction or curvature; smooth; fowing; -- said of the figure of a vessel, and of surfaces, water lines, and other lines.

7. Characterized by frankness, honesty, impartiality, or candor; open; upright; free from suspicion or bias; equitable; just; -- said of persons, character, or conduct; as, a fair man; fair dealing; a fair statement. "I would call it fair play." --Shak.

8. Pleasing; favorable; inspiring hope and confidence; -- said of words, promises, etc.

When fair words and good counsel will not prevail on us, we must be frighted into our duty. --L' Estrange.

9. Distinct; legible; as, fair handwriting.

10. Free from any marked characteristic; average; middling; as, a fair specimen.

The news is very fair and good, my lord. --Shak.

Fair ball. (Baseball) (a) A ball passing over the home base at the height called for by the batsman, and delivered by the pitcher while wholly within the lines of his position and facing the batsman. (b) A batted ball that falls inside the foul lines; -- called also a fair hit.

Fair maid. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The European pilchard (Clupea pilchardus) when dried. (b) The southern scup (Stenotomus Gardeni). [Virginia]

Fair one, a handsome woman; a beauty,

Fair play, equitable or impartial treatment; a fair or equal chance; justice.

From fair to middling, passable; tolerable. [Colloq.]

The fair sex, the female sex.

Syn: Candid; open; frank; ingenuous; clear; honest; equitable; impartial; reasonable. See Candid.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Fay

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.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Fay

Fate\, n. [L. fatum a prophetic declaration, oracle, what is ordained by the gods, destiny, fate, fr. fari to speak: cf. OF. fat. See Fame, Fable, Ban, and cf. 1st Fay, Fairy.]

1. A fixed decree by which the order of things is prescribed; the immutable law of the universe; inevitable necessity; the force by which all existence is determined and conditioned.

Necessity and chance Approach not me; and what I will is fate. --Milton.

Beyond and above the Olympian gods lay the silent, brooding, everlasting fate of which victim and tyrant were alike the instruments. --Froude.

2. Appointed lot; allotted life; arranged or predetermined event; destiny; especially, the final lot; doom; ruin; death.

The great, th'important day, big with the fate Of Cato and of Rome. --Addison.

Our wills and fates do so contrary run That our devices still are overthrown. --Shak.

The whizzing arrow sings, And bears thy fate, Antinous, on its wings. --Pope.

3. The element of chance in the affairs of life; the unforeseen and unestimated conitions considered as a force shaping events; fortune; esp., opposing circumstances against which it is useless to struggle; as, fate was, or the fates were, against him.

A brave man struggling in the storms of fate. --Pope.

Sometimes an hour of Fate's serenest weather strikes through our changeful sky its coming beams. --B. Taylor.

4. pl. [L. Fata, pl. of fatum.] (Myth.) The three goddesses, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, sometimes called the Destinies, or Parc[ae]who were supposed to determine the course of human life. They are represented, one as holding the distaff, a second as spinning, and the third as cutting off the thread.

Note: Among all nations it has been common to speak of fate or destiny as a power superior to gods and men -- swaying all things irresistibly. This may be called the fate of poets and mythologists. Philosophical fate is the sum of the laws of the universe, the product of eternal intelligence and the blind properties of matter. Theological fate represents Deity as above the laws of nature, and ordaining all things according to his will -- the expression of that will being the law. --Krauth-Fleming.

Syn: Destiny; lot; doom; fortune; chance.

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