▪ I. fay, n.1 Obs. or arch.
(feɪ)
Forms: 4 fei, feye, fai, 4–6 fey, 4–7 fay, 5 fa, 4–6 faye, 6 foy.
[ad. later OFr. fei:—earlier feit, feid: see faith. Feith, faith was the original, and became the ordinary, Eng. form: but fey, fay also passed into Eng. from contemporary Fr. a 1300, and was for a time almost as common as the earlier form, especially in certain senses, and in phrases such as par fay, by my fay = OFr. par fei, par ma fei.]
1. Religious belief; = faith n. 1–4.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 7562 (Cott.), I haue in drightin fest mi fai. c 1315 Shoreham Poems (1849) 139 Her-to accordeth oure fay. c 1320 R. Brunne Medit. 18 Þat ys preved by crystes feye. a 1375 Lay Folks Mass Bk. App. iv. 117 Þou schalt be founden, I þe fay Hoseled. 14.. Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 253 Ellis faileþ al oure fay. ? 14.. Chester Pl. (1847) II. 116 Newe tonges shall have to preach the faye. a 1420 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 332 Mannes resoun may not preve our fey. c 1450 Myrc 362 For who so beleueth in the fay. 1590 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Sept. 107 Both of their doctrine and of their faye. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. viii. 19 That neither hath religion nor fay. |
2. Credit, authority; = faith n. 6.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iv. ii. 112 For as moche as þe fey of my sentence shal be þe more ferme and haboundaunt. |
3. Promise, assurance; = faith n. 8.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 11530 (Cott.) He [heroude] was traitur, fals in fai. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 2046 Þar-to sche sykerede þanne hure fay, to help hem be hure miȝte. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1847 Lucrece, They answerde alle unto hire fey. |
4. Allegiance; = faith 9; also in to hold, keep, owe, swear (one's) fay; = faith n. 9 b.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg., St. Dominic 246 Bi þe fei, þat i schal to þe. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 318 Þmariner swore his faye. 1375 Barbour Bruce xiii. 545 [He] held him lelely his fay. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xli. 59 Þe Folk come to þe Fay. c 1450 Henryson Mor. Fab. 53 For to pray That..Lords keepe their fay Vnto their Soueraigne King. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. x. 41 Did foy and tribute raise. |
b. to be at, to take til (= to) any person's or persons' fay: to be in, to take into allegiance or subjection to him or them.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 12984 (Cott.) Þe kinges all ar at mi fai. 1375 Barbour Bruce xiii. 404 Bothwell..then at yngliss mennys fay Wes. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xli. 85 He tuk þame til þe Scottis Fay: Til hym þare Athis of þat made þai. |
5. Fidelity; = faith n. 10. Also to bear fay.
| c 1300 Havelok 255 Alle þe englis dede he sweren Þat he shulden him ghod fey beren. 1377 Pol. Poems (Rolls) I. 215 So fikel in heare fay, That selden iseiȝe is sone forȝete. a 1529 Skelton Dk. Albany 437 In loyalte and foy Lyke to Ector of Troy. |
6. In asseverative phrases: a. in (good) fay; = faith n. 12 a.
| c 1300 K. Alis. 6952 He..thoughte in god fay. c 1340 Cursor M. 13603 (Trin.) He is oure son þei seide in fay. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. lix, Here is, in fay, the tyme. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 88 In gud fay, Schir, it is suith that ȝe say. c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 1046 In good fay I thanke our Lorde. Mod. dial. (Devon.) Iss fay! |
b. In quasi-oaths. by, upon my (etc.) fay: = faith n. 12 c. Also in Fr. form, (par) (ma) fay.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 13593 (Gött.) ‘A prophete’, said he, ‘bi mi fay’. c 1300 Harrow. Hell 81 Par ma fey! ich holde myne Alle tho that bueth heryne. c 1386 Chaucer Wife's T. 201 If I say fals, sey nay, upon thy fey. ― Clerk's T. Prol. 9 Tel us som mery tale, by your fay. ― Pars. T. ¶793 Par fay the resoun of a man tellith him [etc.]. c 1460 Play Sacram. 589 Betwyn Douyr & Calyce..dwellth non so cunnyng be my fey. c 1460 Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 36 Ma fa! sone I hope he shalle. 1547 Gardiner in Strype Cranmer ii. (1694) 76 To say [etc.]..by my faye is overfar out of the way. 1808 Scott Marm. i. xxii, Nephew, quoth Heron, by my fay. 1849 James Woodman x, By my fay, the place seems a fortress instead of an abbey. |
▪ II. fay, n.2
(feɪ)
Also 6 in Fr. form fée, 8 faye, pl. 7 faies.
[ad. OF. fae, faie (Fr. fée) = Pr. and Pg. fada, Sp. hada, It. fata:—Com. Rom. fāta fem. sing., f. L. fāta the Fates, pl. of fātum fate.]
= fairy 4. Also attrib. and Comb.
| 1393 Gower Conf. I. 193 My wife Constance is fay. [a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon cxliv. 536 The noble quene Morgan le faye.] 1570 B. Googe Pop. Kingd. ii. (1880) 15 a, As pleaseth him that fightes with Fées. 1633 B. Jonson Tale Tub ii. i, You'd have your daughters and maids Dance o'er the fields like faies to church. 1746 Collins Dirge in Cymbeline Poems (1771) 97 The female fays shall haunt the green. a 1839 Praed Poems (1864) I. 177 Be she a Fiend, or be she a Fay, She shall be Otto's bride to-day. 1873 G. C. Davies Mount. & Mere xiv. 113 Which needed but little imagination to transfer them into fays and water sprites. 1904 Westm. Gaz. 14 Sept. 2/3 Watching wild swans by some fay-haunted pool. 1962 Listener 12 Apr. 647/1 When she made formal use of figures in her landscapes, they were somewhat mannered, almost fay children. |
▪ III. fay, n.3
(feɪ)
Forms: 8–9 feigh, 9 fay, feagh, fee.
[f. fay v.2]
The clearings from the surface; the surface soil, the dross of metals.
| 1747 Hooson Miner's Dict. M j, This [the Limp] the Washers use for to throw off the Feigh from the Ore out of the Sive. 1802 Mawe Mineralogy 204 Feigh, Newc. Refuse washed from the lead-ore. 1839 Murchison Silur. Syst. i. iii. 40 Fee, pronounced ‘Fay’, a red rubbly thin-bedded rock, with some marl. 1884 Cheshire Gloss., Fay, Fee, the surface soil in contradistinction to the sub-soil. 1893 Surveyors' Institution Professional Notes V. 66 They commenced removing the surface soil, or ‘fey’. |
▪ IV. fay, n.4
(feɪ)
Abbrev. of ofay.
| 1927 Amer. Mercury Aug. 393 ‘What a lot of 'fays!’ I thought, as I noticed the number of white guests. 1946 Mezzrow & Wolfe Really Blues (1957) 62 He was the first fay boy I ever heard who mastered this vital foundation of jazz music. 1966 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. 1964 xlii. 44 Fay is commonly used by Negroes to designate Caucasians. |
▪ V. fay, v.1
(feɪ)
Forms: 1 féȝ-an, 3–4 feȝen, 3 feien, (fien), south. veien, 4 fey, south. vie, 5 fye, 6 faie, 5– fay.
[OE. féᵹ-an = OS. fôgian (Du. voegen), OHG. fuogen (MHG. vüegen, mod.G. fügen):—OTeut. *fôgjan to fit, adapt, join (cf. OFris. fôgia, which differs in conjugation), f. *fôg- (cf. OHG. fuoga, mod.G. fuge fitting together, joining), ablaut-form of Teut. root fag- in fag-ro- fair a.]
† 1. a. trans. To fit, adapt, or join (whether in material or immaterial sense); to put together, add, compose; to fix or fasten in position. Obs.
| a 1000 Riddles xxvi. 9 (Gr.) Heo..feᵹeð mec on fæsten. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 206 Herculem ᵹesihð freo[n]dscipe feᵹð. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 25 Ure fader shop us and feide þe lemes to ure licame. Ibid., Forþi we clepeð him fader for þat he us feide here. c 1200 Ormin 11501 Forr manness bodiȝ feȝedd iss Off fowwre kinne shaffte. Ibid. 11523 Ȝiff þu feȝesst þreo wiþþ þreo Þa findesst tu þær sexe. a 1225 Ancr. R. 78 Vordi ueieð Isaie hope & silence boðe togederes. Ibid. 396 Ure Louerd..to-tweamede his soule urom his bodie vorto ueien ure boðe togederes. |
† b. ? To fit, furnish with. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 649 He lette makien enne dic..& feiede heo mid þornen. |
† c. to fay upon long: to fix at a distant point (in time); to postpone. Obs.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 5616 The ferrer þat we fay our fare opon longe, The more we procure our payne. |
† 2. a. intr. To suit; to match with. Obs.
| c 1300 Agst. Pride Ladies in Pol. Songs (Camden) 154 The bout and the barbet wyth frountel shule feȝe. |
b. U.S. Of a coat: To fit. to fay in: to fit into its place; also trans. to fill up (a gap).
| 1847 D. P. Thompson Locke Amsden vii. 138, I have no notion of spoiling sense to make it fay in with book rules. 1866 Lowell Biglow P. Poems 1890 II. 374 Ther' 's gaps our lives can't never fay in. 1868 Mrs. Whitney P. Strong xi. (1869) 128 One of the things that fayed right in. 1889 Farmer Americanisms, ‘Your coat fays well.’ 1906 P. Lowell Mars & its Canals 347 The explanation of the canals as threads of vegetation fays in with the one which has been found to meet the requirements of the blue-green areas. |
3. To suit, do, go on favourably, succeed. Obs. exc. dial.
| c 1300 Beket 658 That ne vieth nothing. c 1425 Seven Sag. 2981 (P.) That may nouȝt fay And he se the with hys eye..He wyl knowe the anoon righte. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. ii. 336 b, This waye it will not frame ne faie, Therefore must we proue another waye. 1863 Barnes Dorset Gloss., ‘Things dont fay as I should wish em.’ 1886 T. Hardy Mayor Casterbr. xx, It came to pass that for ‘fay’ she said ‘succeed’. |
4. Ship-building, etc. [Special uses of 1, 2.] a. trans. To fit (a piece of timber) closely and accurately to (another). b. intr. Of the timber: To fit close, so as to leave no intervening space.
| a. 1754 M. Murray Shipbuilding 188 Fay..to fitt two pieces of wood so as to join close together. The plank is said to fay to the timbers when it bears, or lies close to all the timbers. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) C iv b, The wing-transom..is fayed across the stern-post, and bolted to the head of it. 1775 N. D. Falck Day's Diving Vessel 5 Two-inch planks..were fayed and nailed to all the timber of the external frame. 1867 in Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. |
| b. 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 23 The mast where it fays is paid over with soft tar. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 102 The butts are rabbeted, and must fay close. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., The plank is said to fay to the timbers, when it lies so close to them that there shall be no perceptible space between them. |
Hence fayed ppl. a.; ˈfaying vbl. n., the action of the vb.; also attrib.
| 1748 F. Smith Voy. Disc. N.-W. Pass. I. 133 The House was..built of Logs of Wood laid one on the other, with two Sides plain or fayed, that they might be the closer. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 25 Swo digeliche hit al dihte þat on elch feinge is hem on sene. a 1225 Ancr. R. 78 Þis is nu þe reisun of þe veiunge. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Faying in maritime phraseology, the union of two pieces so close that no intervening space occurs. 1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuild. x. 193 The rivet-holes shall be punched from the faying surfaces. Ibid. xvii. 338 Care being taken to punch from the faying-side. |
▪ VI. fay, feigh, v.2
(feɪ)
Forms: 3 fæȝen, fæien, fegen, feȝen, 4–5 fyen, 6 fie, 7 fea, 7–8 fee, 4, 7–9 fey, 7–9 feigh, fay.
[a. ON. fǽgja to cleanse, polish:—OTeut. type *fæ̂gjan. ON. had also a synonymous parallel derivative from same root, fága (= MDu. vâgen:—OTeut. type *fæ̂gôjan) whence the Eng. fow v. The ON. words appear to be related by ablaut to Du. vegen, MHG. vegen, mod.G. fegen, to polish, clean, sweep.
In South Yorkshire it rimes with weigh (wɛɪ), not with day, way, say (deː, weː, seː); perh. the best spelling is feigh.]
trans. To clean, cleanse, polish; to clear away (filth, etc.). Now only dial. in specific applications: To clean out (a ditch, pond); to pare away (surface soil); to clean (seed); to winnow (corn).
| c 1205 Lay. 7957 Heo..fæȝeden heoren wepnen. Ibid. 8057 Þe king..hehten [? hehte] heom alle..fæien heore steden. c 1220 Bestiary 210 Feȝ ðe ðus of ði brest filde. c 1350 in Archæologia XXX. 353 Þis drinke xal fyen fro þi herte Glet & rewme. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 1114 He feyed his fysnamye with his foule hondez. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 54 At midnight trie foule priuies to fie. Ibid. 133 Choised seede to be picked and trimlie well fide. 1600 Holland Livy xxi. xxxvii. (1609) 414 Such a deale of snow there was to be digged, faied, and thrown out. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. iv. vi, To empty jakes, fay channels, carry out durt [etc.]. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 4 Oates threshed and feyed. Ibid. 52 Fey up dursed corne, and lye strawe on the floores. 1674 Ray N.C. Words, Fee, to winnow. Fey, Feigh, to do any thing notably. To fey meadows is to cleanse them: to fey a pond, to empty it. 1704 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 59 Hee has already fey'd and ring'd y⊇ seller and enclosed a garden. 1796 Pegge Anonym. (1809) 91 To fee, or to feigh, as they speak in Derbyshire, is to cleanse; so to fee out is to cleanse out. 1813 Cullum Hist. Hawsted & Hardwick Gloss., To fay or fey a pond or ditch, to clean by throwing the mud out of it. 1864 F. Greville in Field 29 Oct., The pond had not been cleaned out, (or as we say in Norfolk, fyed out)..for fifty-five years. 1876 Mid-Yorksh. Gloss., ‘Fey that hedge bottom out.’ 1876 Whitby Gloss., Fay, to fan, to winnow with the natural wind. 1887 S. Cheshire Gloss., Fee to remove the surface soil, e.g. to obtain marl, sand, &c. |
Hence ˈfaying vbl. n.; used attrib. in faying-cloth, ? a winnowing cloth.
| 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) §2. 115 An old coverlette..and a feyinge cloth for to lye upon them. |
▪ VII. † fay, v.3 Obs.
In 3 feahen, feaȝen.
[Only in southern ME.; a Scandinavian origin is therefore unlikely, so that the word can hardly be identified with prec.; the sense also differs. Perh. repr. OE. fǽᵹan (‘fæhit pingit’ Epinal Gl.; cf. afǽᵹan to depict), f. fáh coloured, faw.]
trans. ? To adorn.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 58 Al ȝet þet falleð to hire [þet þe feaȝeð hire C.]. c 1230 Hali Meid. 45 Feahe þi meidenhad wið alle gode þeawes. |
Hence ˈfaying vbl. n.
| c 1230 Hali Meid. 43 Nis ha nawt in claðes ne in feahunge utewið. |
▪ VIII. fay
obs. form of foe.
▪ IX. fay
obs. var. of fey a., fated to die.