fay
1 Americannoun
-
a fairy.
noun
-
faith.
noun
-
ofay.
noun
-
a female given name, form of Faith.
noun
-
a fairy or sprite
adjective
-
of or resembling a fay
-
informal pretentious or precious
verb
-
to fit or be fitted closely or tightly
noun
-
an obsolete word for faith
Etymology
Origin of fay1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English faie, faie, from Middle French feie, fee, Old French fae, fee, ultimately from Latin Fāta Fate ( def. 6 )
Origin of fay2
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English fai, fei, from Anglo-French, variant of feid faith
Origin of fay3
First recorded in 1925–30; by shortening
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The police presence inside Dodger Stadium on opening fay was alarming.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 5, 2019
From Hurricane Frederic in 1979 to tropical storm fay, which ravaged Florida in late August, Americans affected by disaster have looked to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for aid.
From Time Magazine Archive
And makes us lift our arms to fay; A P. that thinks that we have got A pair of cltiekctis in each pot: A P. that's Dry in sovereign Maine, But intimately Wet as rain.
From Time Magazine Archive
There were fay races other than the Xi—she thought the winged girl she saw in her vision must be fay—but she knew little about them.
From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo
“She means that the fay will die. And she means that the Wood itself will perish. The trees will fall; the rivers will dry up; the earth will become nothing but ash.”
From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.