faerie

See also: færie and faërie

English

The Faerie Queene, as depicted in 1788.

Alternative forms

• færie (archaic, nonstandard)
• faërie

Etymology

A deliberately archaic spelling of fairy (attested since the 1300s in spellings like fairye, fayre), based on Old French faerie, used in 1590 by Edmund Spenser in the Faerie Queene.

Noun

faerie (countable and uncountable, plural faeries)

1. Archaic spelling of fairy.
2. Realm of the fays, fairyland.

References

• Faerie, in Compact Oxford English Dictionary.

Anagrams

• feriae

Old French

Alternative forms

• faierie

Etymology

fae +‎ -erie

Noun

faerie f

1. the sphere or realm of enchantment, magic or dream associated with the fae (fays)

Derived terms

• French: féerie, féérie
  • → English: féerie
• → Middle English: fairye
  • English: fairy, fairie, faerie, faery
  • Scots: fairy, faerie, faery