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fay

 - 10 dictionary results

fay

1  [fey]
Use fay in a Sentence
–noun
a fairy.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME faie, fei < MF feie, fee ≪ L Fāta Fate

fay

2  [fey]
–noun Obsolete.
faith.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME fai, fei < AF, var. of feid faith

fay

3  [fey]
–noun Slang.
ofay.
Origin:
1925–30; by shortening

Fay

  [fey]
–noun
a female given name, form of Faith.
Also, Faye.

o⋅fay

  [oh-fey]
–noun Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.
a white person.
Also, fay.

Origin:
1920–25, Americanism; of obscure orig.; the popular notion that the word is a Pig Latin deformation of foe is very dubious
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To fay
fay 1   (fā)   
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.]
fay 2   (fā)   
n.  A fairy or an elf.

[Middle English faie, enchanted person or place, from Old French fae; see fairy.]
fay 3   (fā)   
n.   Archaic
Faith: "Sirrah, by my fay, it waxes late" (Shakespeare).

[Middle English fai, from Anglo-Norman fei, fed; see faith.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

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.

ofay 
Amer.Eng. black slang, "white person," 1925, of unknown origin. If, as is sometimes claimed, it derives from an African word, none corresponding to it has been found. Perhaps the most plausible speculation is Yoruba ófé "to disappear" (as from a powerful enemy), with the sense transf. from the word of self-protection to the source of the threat. OED regards the main alternate theory, that it is pig Latin for foe, to be an "implausible guess."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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