▪ I. fey, a. Formerly chiefly Sc.
(feɪ)
Forms: 1 fǽȝe, 3 fæiȝe, south. væiȝe, vaiȝe, fæie, south. væie, faie, 3–4 feie, south. veie, feye, 4 feiȝe, south. veiȝe, fei, 4–5 fay, (8 fie), 4– fey.
[Common Teut.; OE. fǽᵹe = OS. fêgi (MDu. vêge, Du. veeg), OHG. feigi (MHG. veige in same sense, also timid, cowardly, mod.G. feige cowardly), ON. feigr:—OTeut. *faigjo-; the ulterior etymology is uncertain: see Kluge and Franck.]
1. Fated to die, doomed to death; also, at the point of death; dying. In literary use now arch. Still in popular use in Scotland: see quot. 1861.
| Beowulf 1568 (Gr.) Bil eal þurhwod fæᵹne flæschoman. Ibid. 2141 Næs ic fæᵹe þa ᵹyt. a 1000 Byrhtnoth 119 (Gr.) æt fotum feoll fæᵹe cempa. c 1205 Lay. 517 Heo weren summe faie [c 1275 veie]. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xvi. 2 As a frek þat feye were forth gan ich walke. c 1450 Henryson Mor. Fab. 58 Death on the fayest fall. c 1470 Henry Wallace iv. 92 Fey on the feld he has him left for deid. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 378 Throw misgyding, or than the man wes fey. 17.. Jock o' the Side xxx. in Scott Minstr. Scott. Bord. (1869) 103 There'l nae man die but him that's fie. 1790 Burns Sheriffmuir ii, Thro' they dash'd, and hew'd, and smash'd, Till fey men died awa, man. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xvi, Man! art thou fey! 1861 Ramsay Remin. Ser. ii. 75 When a person does anything that is contrary to his habits or dispositions it is common..to say, ‘I wish the bodie be na fey’; that is, that this unwonted act may not be a prelude to his death. 1882 A. Lang Helen of Troy vi. xvi, O'er strange meat they revell'd like folk fey. |
| absol. a 1000 Andreas 1532 (Gr.) Fæᵹe swulton..on ᵹeofene. c 1205 Lay. 31227 Feollen þa uaiȝe. a 1250 Prov. ælfred 170 in O.E. Misc. 112 For nys no wrt..Þat euer mvwe þas feye furþ vp-holde. 1799 A. Johnston in Statist. Acc. Scotl. XXI. 148 The Fye gave due warning by certain signs of approaching mortality. Ibid. 149 [Superstition having diminished,] the Fye has withdrawn his warning, and the elf his arrows. |
In Hone's Every-day Bk. II. 1019, followed by many later writers, fye in quots. 1799 is taken as a synonym of fetch. This seems to be a mistake.
† 2. Leading to or presaging death; deadly, fatal. Obs.
| c 1470 Henry Wallace ix. 1342 Full fey was maid that rout. 1513 Douglas æneis x. Prol. 124 Bittyr was that frute for his ofspring and fey. 1799 Statist. Acc. Scot. XXI. 150 What Fye token do ye see about me? |
† 3. Accursed, unfortunate, unlucky. Obs.
| a 1000 Crist 1534 (Gr.) On þæt deope dæl..ᵹefeallað..synfulra here..fæᵹe gæstas. 1340–70 Alisaunder 397 For ðis feye folk ðer so fouli was harmed. 1513 Douglas æneis iii. ix. 48 And of the company of fey Vlixes. |
† 4. Feeble, timid; sickly, weak. Obs.
| a 1000 Guthlac 281 (Gr.) Nis min breostsefa forht ne fæᵹe. c 1350 Med. MS. in Archæol. XXX. 376 Parwynke..beryth blo flour, His stalkys arn..feynt & feye. c 1420 Avow. Arth. iv, Feye folke will he fere. 1513 Douglas æneis xii. v. 41 That now, thus sleuthfully, sa fant and fey Huvis still on thir feldis. |
5. Disordered in mind like one about to die; possessing or displaying magical, fairylike, or unearthly qualities. Now freq. used ironically, in sense ‘affected, whimsy’.
| 1823 J. Galt Entail I. viii. 62 Surely the man's fey about his entails and his properties. 1856 J. Ballantine Poems 207 Wad ye rax his craig, When our daughter is fey for a man? 1921 M. Corelli Secret Power iii. 34 ‘But I was {oqq}fey{cqq} from my birth—.’ ‘What is fey?’ interrupted Miss Herbert... ‘It's just everything that everybody else is not’—Morgana replied—{oqq}Fey{cqq} people are magic people; they see what no one else sees,—they hear voices that no one else hears—voices that whisper secrets and tell of wonders as yet undiscovered.’ 1930 ‘E. Queen’ French Powder Myst. xxx. 251 ‘Have you gone fey?’ gasped the Inspector. ‘Like a fox,’ said Ellery. 1930 J. Douglas Down Shoe Lane 289 They become fey and fond. 1937 H. G. Wells Star Begotten iii. 66 Are there people—what shall I call them?—fey people about? People as sane as you and I and yet strange? 1938 ― Apropos of Dolores vi. 293 One of these toy trains of theirs seemed to come out of the ground beside us... They [sc. the passengers] seemed indeed to be inhabitants of some different, some elfin world... She was all agog to see that fey train once more. 1952 C. Day Lewis tr. Virgil's Aeneid vi. 119 Her fey heart swelled in ecstasy. 1955 E. Coxhead Figure in Mist ii. 63 A gaze that was not at all fey, but..remarkably shrewd. 1959 Listener 4 June 998/1 Sensible elder daughter, and fey younger daughter. 1969 D. Burnham Through Dooms of Love 219 Now your wife would be perfect for the part; she's got that fey look as though she's had breakfast with a leprechaun. |
Hence ˈfeydom, the state of being ‘fey’; ˈfeyly adv.
| 1823 Galt Entail I. 156 ‘I would hae thought the half o't an unco almous frae you. I hope it's no a fedam afore death.’ 1959 Times 6 Mar. 14/5 She feyly resumes the gestures of a Spanish dancer in return to her past on the music halls. 1964 ‘W. Haggard’ Antagonists i. 13 A light from a feyly gothic window. |
▪ II. fey
var. of fay n.1 Obs. faith.
▪ III. fey
obs. form of fay v.2, fee n.2, foe.