fairy

fairy, n. and a.
  (ˈfɛərɪ)
  Forms: 4 feir-, feyr-i(e, -ye, (5 fery, 6 feirie), 4–5 fai-, fayerie, -ye, (4 fayryȝe), 4–6 fair-, fayr-é, -ey, -ie, -y(e, (6 fayere, 6–7 pharie, 7 farie, phair-, pherie), 4– fairy; also faerie, -y.
  [a. OF. faerie, faierie (mod.F. féerie), f. OF. fae (mod.F. fée) fay n.²]
  A. n.
  † 1. The land or home of the fays; fairy-land. Obs.: see faerie.

c 1320 Orfeo 273 The kyng of Fayré, with his route, Com to hunte all aboute. c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 88 Though he were comen ayeyn out of ffairye. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xvi. 73 A sperhawke..and a faire lady of Fairye sittand þerby. 1593 Drayton Eclogues iii. 15 [Collin] is to fayrie gone a Pilgrimage. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. i. ii, The Doctor Sweares that you are..Allied to the Queene of Faerie.

  † 2. A collective term for the fays or inhabitants of fairyland; fairy-folk. Obs.

c 1320 Orfeo 189 Awey with the fayré sche was ynome. c 1350 Will. Palerne 230 Þemperour wend witerly for wonder of þat child, þat feiȝþely it were of feyrye. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xiv. 337 The horse..that cam of the fery. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. ccxxiv. [ccxx.] 700 Suche as knowe..affyrmeth that the fayry and the nympes be moche conuersaunt there. c 1540 Pilgrim's Tale 88 Where this man walked, there was no farey..for his blessynges..did vanquyche them. 1603 Philotus cxxviii, Gang hence..to the Farie, With me thow may na langer tarie.

  † 3. Enchantment, magic; a magic contrivance; an illusion, a dream. Obs.

c 1300 K. Alis. 6924 That thou herdest is fairye. c 1310 E.E.P. (1862) 134 Hit nis but fantum and feiri. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. Prol. 6 Me bi-fel a ferly A Feyrie me þouhte. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode ii. xxxvi. (1869) 89, I wot not what this tokeneth, but if it be a fairye. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon clvi. 595 To y⊇ entente that the monke shuld not begyle hym, thus by the fayrey and enchauntement.

  4. a. One of a class of supernatural beings of diminutive size, in popular belief supposed to possess magical powers and to have great influence for good or evil over the affairs of man. See elf and fay n.²

1393 Gower Conf. II. 371 And as he were a fairie. c 1450 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 571 Cavni, fayryes. 1563 Fulke Meteors (1640) 68 b, Those round circles..that ignorant people affirme to be the rings of the Fairies dances. 1583 Sempill Ballates xxxv. 210 Ane carling of the Quene of Phareis. 1650 Baxter Saint's R. ii. (1654) 270 Hags (or Fairies) that is, such as exercise familiarity with men. 1743 Collins Ep. to Sir T. Hanmer 98 Twilight fairies tread the circled Green. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab 167, I am the Fairy Mab. 1832 W. Irving Alhambra I. 128 She is small enough to be a fairy, and a fairy she may be for aught I can find out. 1891 Daily News 30 Oct. 5/1 The first appearance of the conventional Fairy..is made in Perrault's ‘Contes’ (1697).

  b. fairy of the mine: a goblin supposed to inhabit mines. (The designation is used by Milton; later writers use it as the equivalent of the German kobold or gnome.) † fairy of the sea: a Nereid.

1555 Eden Decades 12 The fayre nimphes or fayeres of the sea (cauled Nereiades). 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 261 The Virgin lived among the Pharies of the Sea. 1634 [see faerie 3]. 18.. Scot. Encycl. s.v., The Germans believed in two species of Fairies of the Mines.

  5. transf. † a. One possessing more than human power; an enchantress. Obs.

1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. viii. 12 To this great faiery [Cleopatra], Ile commend thy acts.

  b. A small graceful woman or child.

1838 Lytton Alice 21 Miss Merton was..surprised by the beauty..of the young fairy before her.

  c. A male homosexual. slang.

1895 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. VII. 216 This coincides with what is known of the peculiar societies of inverts. Coffee-clatches, where the members dress themselves with aprons, etc., and knit, gossip and crotchet; balls, where men adopt the ladies' evening dress, are well known in Europe. ‘The Fairies’ of New York are said to be a similar secret organization. 1923 [see fag n.5]. 1925 F. Lonsdale Spring Cleaning ii. 75 Mona. I say, what's the fairy's name? Richard. I have happily forgotten it for the moment! 1929 R. Hughes High Wind in Jamaica iv, ‘Who are they?’ Emily asked the Captain... ‘Who are who?’ he murmured absently... ‘Oh, those? Fairies.’ ‘Hey! Yey! Yey!’ cried the mate. 1945 E. Waugh Brideshead Revisited i. v. 102 Two girls stopped near our table and looked at us curiously. ‘Come on,’ said one to the other, ‘we're wasting our time. They're only fairies.’

  B. adj.
  1. Of or pertaining to fairies; of the nature of fairies; enchanted, illusory, fictitious.

c 1640 Waller To one who libelled C'tess Carlisle iii, Hast thou not heard of fairy Arthur's shield. 1699 Bentley Phal. 286 His two Fairy Poets wrote Tragedies against him. 1713 Guardian No. 141 The fairy images of glory and honour. 1821 Shelley Epipsych. 193 The fairy isles of sunny lawn.

  2. Resembling a fairy, fairy-like; delicate, finely formed or woven.

1788 W. Gilpin Mount. & Lakes II. 223 Little fairy scenes, where the parts, tho trifling, are happily disposed. 1838 Lytton Alice ii. ii, Delicate and fairy cast of beauty. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) I. 229 Many a fairy form I've met. 1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 91 [He] Show'd her..The little dells of cowslip, fairy palms..fairy pines. 1883 Aldrich Ponkapog to Pesth 243 Fairy textures from looms of Samarcand.

  C. attrib. and Comb.
  1. General relations: a. simple attrib., as fairy-arrow, fairy-book, etc.; also in various local names for the Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), fairy-bell, fairy-cap, fairy-fingers, fairy-glove, fairy-thimble, fairy-weed; b. appositive, as fairy-folk, fairy-godmother; c. instrumental and originative, as fairy-born, fairy-haunted, fairy-pencilled adjs.; d. parasynthetic and similative, as fairy-featured, fairy-fine, fairy-formed, fairy-like adjs.

1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 94 What looked a flight of *fairy arrows.

1870 Science Gossip 1 June 135 In Anglo-Irish we call it [the Foxglove]..*fairy bell.

1850 Mrs. Browning Poems II. 213 A child..sleeping with dropt head Upon the *fairy-book he lately read.

1871 Palgrave Lyr. Poems 11 All these things..So wrought on her, though *fairy born and wild.

c 1620 Convert Soule in Farr S.P. Jas. I (1848) 89 And for thy food eat *fairy bread.

1828 Miss Mitford Village 3rd Ser. (1863) 83 The prettier Irish name of that superb plant [the fox-glove], the *fairy-cap.

1681 Dryden Sp. Friar ii. 21 These *Fayery favours are lost when not concealed.

1778 Langhorne Owen of Carron lxvii, The *fairy-featured vale.

1904 Westm. Gaz. 20 May 2/4 A wonder, a green miracle, More *fairy-fine than words can tell. 1925 C. Day Lewis Beechen Vigil 21 Give me your hands so fairy-fine.

1878–86 Britten & Holland Plant-n., *Fairy fingers, Digitalis purpurea L.

1513 Douglas æneis viii. vi. 7 Nymphis and Favnis..Quhilk *fairfolkis..clepyng we. 1827 Pollok Course T. iii, Tales Of fairy folk and sleepless ghosts.

1864 Tennyson Aylmer's F. 90 The *fairy footings on the grass.

1816 Byron Ch. Har. iii. cii, Bees and birds, And *fairy-form'd and many-colour'd things.

1870 Science Gossip 1 June 135 Its [foxglove's] other name ‘*fairy glove’.

1883 Ouida Wanda I. 43 A very *fairy godmother.

1792 S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. ii. 3 To view the *fairy-haunts of long-lost hours.

1603 Harsnet Pop. Impost. 21 The poore Wench was so *Fayrie haunted, as she durst not goe..to Ma. Dibdale hir chamber alone.

1598 Shakes. Merry W. iv. iv. 57 Let them all encircle him about And *fairy-like to pinch the vncleane knight. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop i, So slight and fairy-like a creature.

1867 Deutsch Rem. (1874) 5 Hieroglyphical *fairy-lore.

1813 Shelley Q. Mab i. 91 Those who had looked upon the sight..Saw but the *fairy pageant.

1810 Associate Minstrels 105 The *fairy-penciled spray.

1884 Holland Chester Gloss., *Fairies' Petticoats, the foxglove.

1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho i, Tell the Goddess of this *fairy scene.

1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. ii. 1 Come, now a Roundell, and a *Fairy song.

1878–86 Britten & Holland Plant-n., *Fairy Thimbles, Digitalis purpurea L.

1732 Berkeley Alciphr. vii. §25 They have exposed their *fairy ware not to cheat but divert us.

1870 Science Gossip 1 June 135 In Anglo-Irish we call it [the Foxglove]..*fairy weed.

  2. Special Comb.: fairies-arrow, = elf-shot 2; fairies' (fairy) bath, Peziza coccinea; fairy-beads (see quot.); fairy-bell (see quot. 1861); fairy bells, a kind of musical instrument; fairy-bird (see quot.); fairy (fairies') butter, (a) (see quot. 1777); (b) Tremella albida; fairy cake, a small individual sponge cake, usu. iced and decorated; fairy-cheeses, Malva rotundiflora, from the shape of the seeds; fairy-circle, (a) = fairy-ring; (b) a fairy-dance; (c) a circle of fairies dancing; hence fairy-circled a.; fairy-court, the court of some fairy king or queen; fairy-cucumber (see quot.); fairy-cups, (a) Primula veris; (b) = fairies' bath; hence fairy-cupped a.; fairy-cycle, a small-wheeled low bicycle for children; fairy-dance, (a) = fairy-ring; (b) dance of the fairies, in quot. fig.; fairy-dart, = elf-shot; fairy-eggs (see quot.); fairy-fingermarks (see quot.); fairy-flax, Linum catharticum; fairy-fly, a minute insect which deposits its eggs in the eggs of other insects; a chalcid of the family Mymaridæ; fairy godmother, a fairy who acts as godmother or protector to a mortal child; also transf., a benefactress; so fairy godfather; also (nonce-wds.) fairy-godmother v. trans., fairy-godmotherly adj.; fairy-grass, Briza media; fairy-green, = fairy-ring; fairy-groat (see quot.); fairies'-hair, Cuscuta epithymum; fairy-hammer (see quot.); fairy-hillock (see quot.); fairies-horse, Senecio Jacobæa; fairy lamp, a lamp containing a candle; fairy light (usu. in pl.), (a) a small coloured light used in illuminations and often hung among trees; (b) a kind of nightlight; (c) perversion of ‘Very light’; hence fairy-lighted, -lit adjs.; fairy-lint, = fairy-flax; fairy-loaf (see quot.); fairy-martin, Australian name for Hirundo ariel; fairy-money, money given by fairies, said to crumble away rapidly; fairy moss, tiny, free-floating, aquatic ferns of the genus Azolla; fairy-mushroom, a toadstool; † fairy-nips (see quot.); fairy-pavements, cubes used in Roman pavements; fairy penguin, the little or little blue penguin, Eudyptula minor, found on the southern coasts of Australasia; fairy-pipe, an old kind of tobacco-pipe, frequently dug up in Great Britain; fairy prince, a prince of the fairies; transf., an idealized person, the ideal husband-to-be; fairy prion, a prion, Pachyptila turtur, of Australasian and subantarctic coasts, with a bluish bill and bluish feet; fairy-purse (see quot.); fairy queen, the queen of the fairies; also, the player who takes the part of the fairy queen in a pantomime; such a part; fairy-rade, Sc., the expedition of the fairies to the place where they are to hold their annual banquet; fairy rose, Rosa chinensis var. minima; fairy-shrimp, = Chirocephalus diaphanus, a British fresh-water crustacean; fairy-sparks (see quot. 1875); fairy-stone, (a) a fossil sea-urchin or echinite; (b) a flint arrow-head, = elf-shot 2; fairies'-table, various fungi; fairy (fairies')-treasure, -wealth, = fairy-money; fairy tern, (a) Austral. and N.Z., a small black-crowned tern, Sterna nereis; (b) a tropical white tern, Anous (Gygis) albus; † fairy-walk, = fairy-ring.

1794 Sutherland in Statist. Acc. Scot. X. 15 The common people confidently assert that they [celts] are *fairies' arrows, which they shoot at cattle.

1856 C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain i. viii. 72 Flora..sought in the hedge-sides for some crimson ‘*fairy baths’ to carry home. 1878–86 Britten & Holland Plant-n., Fairies' Bath.

1831 J. Hodgson in Raine Mem. (1858) II. 222 The crinoidea or enchrinal fossil, which in Cumberland is called *fairy beads.

1861 Mrs. Lankester Wild Flowers 47 The tiny white flowers [of Wood Sorrel]..are called by the Welsh ‘*fairy bells’. 1895 Army & Navy Co-op. Soc. Price List 15 Sept. 1664 Fairy Bells. 1916 E. Crutchfield in G. B. Shaw Sham Educ. in Doctors' Delusions (1931) 361 A clown was then introduced. He played the ‘fairy bells’ in imitation of church bells.

1885 Swainson Prov. Names Birds 204 Little Tern..*Fairy bird (Galway).

1777 Brand Pop. Antiq. (1813) II. 339 There is a substance found..in crevices of lime-stone rocks.. near Holywell..which is called Menyn Tylna Teg or *Fairies Butter. So also in Northumberland the common people call a certain fungous excrescence, sometimes found about the roots of old trees, Fairy Butter. 1878–86 Britten & Holland Plant-n., Fairy-Butter.

1895 Army & Navy Co-op. Soc. Price List 4 *Fairy Cakes... Price per lb. 0/7. 1967 R. Rendell New Lease of Death v. 47 A tea trolley..laden with home-baked pastries, strawberries in glass dishes, fairy cakes in paper cases. 1971 Guardian 9 Jan. 11/1 The occasional fairy cake and cuppa from Mrs. Purdie the tea-lady.

1878–86 Britten & Holland Plant-n., *Fairy cheeses.

1653 H. More Antid. Ath. iii. xi. §1 Those dark Rings in the grass which they call *Fairy-Circles. 1711 Acc. Distemper Tom Whigg ii. 44 Tom..trod out Fairy Circles at the Head of each Tribe. 1854 in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club (1873) VII. 32 In the churchyard there is a large..fairy circle. 1859 Tennyson Guinevere 255 The flickering fairy-circle wheel'd and broke Flying.

1777 Warton Monody Poems 7 Fancy's *fairy-circled shrine.

a 1649 Drummond of Hawthornden Wks. (1711) 44 To..know the sports Of foreign shepherds, fawns, and *fairy-courts.

1708 Phil. Trans. XXVI. 78 The Ecknite Spoke, or *Fairy Cucumber.

1878–86 Britten & Holland Plant-n., *Fairy Cups.

1863 Browning Poems, By Fire-side 59 The *fairy-cupped Elf-needled mat of moss.

1926–7 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 888/2 ‘*Fairy cycle’. With adjustable saddle. 1927 Times 6 July 13 A girl of six..riding her fairycycle. 1928 Daily Express 2 June 7/3 The boy was pushing his fairy cycle near his home when a collision occurred between two motor-cars, one of which killed him.

1675 Evelyn Terra (1776) 62 A florid green circle or *Fairy-dance at the bottom. 1798 W. Sotheby tr. Wieland's Oberon (1826) I. 51 The twinkling fairy-dance of light and shade.

1877 Brewer Dict. Phrase & Fable 284 *Fairy-darts, flint arrowheads now called celts.

1860 J. F. Campbell Tales W. Highl. I. Introd. 1 Fishermen..often find certain hard, light floating objects..which they call sea-nuts..and *fairy-eggs.

1869 Lonsdale Gloss., *Fairy finger-marks, hollow marks in limestone as if fingers had been pressed upon the stones when soft.

1841 Longfellow Wreck Hesp. ii, Blue were her eyes as the *fairy-flax.

1903 W. F. Kirby Butterflies & Moths of Europe p. xxxvi/1 The smallest of all known insects are some parasitic Hymenoptera belonging to the family Mymaridæ, which lay their eggs in those of other insects. They have elegant battledore-shaped wings, with a fringe of very long hairs... They are popularly known as ‘*Fairy Flies’. 1949 Oxf. Jun. Encycl. II. 82/2 The Fairy Flies, which include the smallest known insects, are Chalcids that spend their larval life inside the eggs of other insects, feeding on the contents.

1935 Mademoiselle Aug. 59/2 Acquaintance? He's my *fairy godfather. 1959 M. Steen Tower i. iv. 65 The little old fairy godfather was nicely covering the sherry he offered his visitors.

1851 M. Gatty (title) The *fairy godmothers and other tales. 1855 C. M. Yonge Hist. Sir Thomas Thumb p. vii, Other fairies..were generally women, enchantresses..and probably all the fairy god-mothers we hear of, are meant for these. 1883 Fairy godmother [see fairy n. and a. C. 1]. 1909 G. K. Chesterton Orthodoxy iv. 98 Fairy godmothers seem at least as strict as other godmothers. 1959 Listener 18 June 1058/2 Any country which embarks on this programme will be the world's fairy godmother. 1962 Ibid. 26 July 146/3 Mrs Eileen J. Garrett, President of the Parapsychology Foundation of New York and fairy godmother of paranormal study.

1919 W. Deeping Second Youth xxxi. 260 Miles's name had been placed upon the list some weeks ago, with Kate's name recording her sponsorship, for each accredited visitor had to be ‘*fairy’ godmothered' by a W.M.C. member.

1900 E. T. Fowler Farringdons 272 ‘I have found your mislaid grandfather; be a mother to him for the rest of your life!’ It would give one the most delicious, *fairy-godmotherly sort of satisfaction!

1878–86 Britten & Holland Plant-n., *Fairy grass.

1819 Edin. Mag. July 19 He wha tills the *fairy green, Nae luck again sall hae.

1577–87 Harrison England ii. ii. xxiv. 218 Some peeces [of coine]..are dailie taken vp, which they call..*Feirie groats.

1627 Drayton Nymphidia 71 In their courses make that round, In meadows..found, By them so call'd the *Fairy-ground.

1878–86 Britten & Holland Plant-n., *Fairies' hair.

1815 Clan-Albin II. 240 note, *Fairy-hammers are pieces of green porphyry, shaped like the head of a hatchet.

1808–79 Jamieson, *Fairy-hillocks..verdant knolls..from the vulgar idea that these were anciently inhabited by the fairies, or that they used to dance there. 1877 Brewer Dict. Phrase & Fable 284 Fairy-hillocks.

1878–86 Britten & Holland Plant-n., *Fairies' Horse.

1886 Colon. & Ind. Exhib. Official Catal. 166 Advt., New Patent ‘*Fairy’ Lamps and ‘Fairy’ Lights. 1891 Sale Catal. Glass Wks. Stourbridge, Five fairy lamps. a 1941 V. Woolf Captain's Death Bed (1950) 205 In the Amusement Compound..they light a horse-shoe of fairy-lamps above the Jack and Jill.

1871 English Mechanic 24 Nov. 244/2 A long crescent of *fairy-lights, glimmering on the coast-line. 1891 Strand Mag. Aug. (Advt.), The Queen of Lights. ‘Fairy’ Light. With Double Wicks. 1895 Army & Navy Co-op. Soc. Price List 15 Sept. 20 Night Lights... Fairy Lights, to burn in the ‘Fairy Lamps’. 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 91 Fairy Light, Véry Light, named after its inventor. Vé ry Lights were flares or fire balls fired from a pistol, employed everywhere in the trenches and by airmen. 1927 W. E. Collinson Contemp. Eng. 98 Fairy lights (Verey lights to send up the S.O.S. or distress signals). 1955 M. Hastings Cork & Serpent vii. 86 A gay little inn with a string of fairy lights illuminating the banks of bottles behind the bar. 1968 Listener 12 Dec. 807/3 Even electric fairy lights are not entirely free of fire risk.

1938 Times 10 Jan. 10/4 *Fairy-lighted Christmas trees.

1878–86 Britten & Holland Plant-n., *Fairy lint.

1953 C. Day Lewis Italian Visit i. 22 Let *fairy-lit streets run wine through the veins like a ride on a scenic Railway.

1877 Brewer Dict. Phrase & Fable 284 *Fairy loaves..fossil sea-urchins (echini), said to be made by the fairies.

1865 Gould Handbk. Birds Australia I. 113 The *Fairy Martin is dispersed over all the southern portions of Australia.

1690 Locke Hum. Und. i. iv. (1695) 38 Such borrowed Wealth, like *Fairy-money..will be but Leaves and Dust when it comes to use. 1849 Lytton Caxtons xvii. vi, Half-suspecting they must already have turned into withered leaves like fairy-money.

[1908 T. W. Sanders Encycl. Gardening 163 Fairy Floating Moss (Azolla caroliniana).] 1938 F. Perry Water Gardening ix. 134 The Azollas are so dainty in appearance that the English name of *Fairy Moss is no misnomer. 1968 D. Bartrum Water in Garden viii. 116 Azolla caroliniana..is closely allied to the Ferns... The popular name of the plant is Fairy Moss.

1884 Miller Plant-n. 137 Toadstool..*Fairy-Mushroom. Any of the poisonous Fungi.

1656 Adey Candle in Dark 129 There be also found in Women with Childe..certain spots black and blew, as if they were pinched or beaten, which some common ignorant people call *Fairy-nips.

1787 Archæol. VIII. 364 Some small stone cubes..which the country people called *fairy pavements.

1848 J. Gould Birds of Australia VII. 85 (heading) Spheniscus undina, Gould. *Fairy Penguin. 1901 A. J. Campbell Nests & Eggs Austral. Birds II. 1012 The Fairy Penguin is the smallest of its singular tribe. 1966 G. Durrell Two in Bush ii. 79 Fairy Penguins appeared in small groups and hopped their way up the rocks towards their nest burrows.

1867 Chambers's Encycl. s.v. Tobacco-pipes, From their smallness, some ancient tobacco-pipes are called *fairy pipes.

1840 Fraser's Mag. July 99/2 Caroline..had set him down for her divinity, her wondrous *fairy prince. 1911 ‘I. Hay’ Safety Match xii. 194 A purely hypothetical fairy prince, composed of equal parts of Peer of the Realm, Lifeguardsman, Mr Sandow, Lord Byron, and the Bishop of London, whom she had cherished in..her heart. 1966 J. Gloag Sentence of Life xlix. 415 It was Mr Maddox this, Mr Maddox that. You'd have thought he was the fairy prince the way she carried on.

1912 G. M. Mathews Birds of Australia II. ii. 217 Pseudoprion Turtur Turtur. Australian *Fairy-Prion. 1930 W. R. B. Oliver New Zealand Birds 114 Fairy Prion... Pachyptila turtur. The Fairy Prion was first discovered in Bass Strait... The Fairy Prion in all its forms is to be distinguished from the other members of the genus by the form of the bill. 1966 G. Durrell Two in Bush ii. 79 Then the Fairy Prions—delicate little swallow-like petrels—started to arrive.

1877 E. Peacock Manley & Corringham Gloss., *Fairy-purses, a kind of fungus..something like a cup, or old-fashioned purse.

1590 Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 9, I serue the *Fairy Queene. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab 59 The chariot of the Fairy Queen! 1859 Tennyson Elaine 1248 Look how she sleeps—the Fairy Queen so fair! 1899 G. B. Shaw Let. 12 Oct. in J. Dunbar Mrs. G. B. S. (1963) xi. 187 Poor Moony Silly grinned like a fairy queen in a fifth rate pantomime. 1904 Sat. Rev. 14 May 620/2 In the seventies pantomime was flourishing still. Demon King and Fairy Queen..were familiar and popular things.

1810 Cromek Remains Nithsdale Song 298 At the first approach of summer is held the *Fairy Rade. c 1820 Hogg Woolgatherer in Tales & Sk. (1837) I. 196 There have been fairy raids i' the Hope.

1848 W. Paul Rose Garden ii. ii. 131 Rosa... The Lawrenceana, or *Fairy Rose... In dry soils the Fairy Roses may be planted in masses. 1955 G. S. Thomas Old Shrub Roses ix. 78 In 1805, at Colville's nursery in England, Parsons's Pink China gave rise to the Dwarf Pink China, a miniature Rose known in England as the Fairy Rose.

1857 A. White Brit. Crustacea 263 The *Fairy Shrimp seems to live on dead animal or vegetable matter.

1674 Ray S. & E.C. Words 65 *Fairy-sparks or Shel-fire: Kent: often seen on clothes in the night. 1875 Parish Sussex Gloss., Fairy-sparks, phosphoric light seen on various substances in the night-time.

1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. i. 53 That we call a *Fayrie stone, and is often found in gravell pits amongst us. 1791 Ford in Statist. Acc. Scot. I. 73 Arrow points of flint, commonly called elf or fairy stones are to be seen here [Lauder]. 1881 Isle of Wight Gloss., Fairy stones, fossil echini.

1878–86 Britten & Holland Plant-n., *Fairies Table or Tables, (1) Agaricus campestris..(2) Hydrocotyle vulgaris.

1925 P. Moncrieff New Zealand Birds 24 Little White Tern (*Fairy Tern). 1926 W. Beebe Arcturus Adv. ix. 228 Scores of sea-birds—frigate birds, boobies, and pure white fairy terns. 1954 Fisher & Lockley Sea-Birds i. 29 Gygis alba, the tropical, white, almost ‘transparent’ fairy tern breeds north in the Atlantic. 1966 R. A. Falla et al. Field Guide Birds N.Z. 163 Fairy Terns reappear at breeding grounds in September.

[1632 Massinger & Field Fatal Dowry iv. i, 'Tis Fairies' Treasure.] 1698 Norris Pract. Disc. (1707) IV. 15 Every man keeps it [Religion] as a *Fairy-Treasure.

1686 Phil. Trans. XVI. 207 The circles in Grasse called commonly *Fairy Walkes.

1652 Brief Char. Low Countries 26 (Brand) She falls off like *Fairy Wealth disclosed.

  
  
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   ▸ fairy dust n. a magical dust imagined to be used by fairies; (hence) a (hypothetical) thing considered special or extremely effective, or to have special powers; magic.

1840 R. Browning Sordello ii, 71 He strewed A *fairy dust upon that multitude. 1911 J. M. Barrie Peter Pan iii. 43 No one can fly unless the fairy dust has been blown on him. 1999 Daily News (Plymouth, N.Z.) 31 July 6/1 Local bodies trying to kid themselves that, overnight and with enough fairydust, they can morph into slick corporations.

Oxford English Dictionary