Fair″y (?), n.; pl.Fairies (#). [OE. fairie, faierie, enchantment, fairy folk, fairy, OF. faerie enchantment, F. féer, fr. LL. Fata one of the goddesses of fate. See Fate, and cf. Fay a fairy.] [Written also faëry.] 1. Enchantment; illusion. Chaucer.
The God of her has made an end,
And fro this worlde's fairy
Hath taken her into company. Gower.
2. The country of the fays; land of illusions.
He is a king y-crowned in Fairy. Lydgate.
3. An imaginary supernatural being or spirit, supposed to assume a human form (usually diminutive), either male or female, and to meddle for good or evil in the affairs of mankind; a fay. See Elf, and Demon.
The fourth kind of spirit called the Fairy. K. James.
And now about the caldron sing,
Like elves and fairies in a ring. Shak.
5. An enchantress. Shak.
Fairy of the mine, an imaginary being supposed to inhabit mines, etc. German folklore tells of two species; one fierce and malevolent, the other gentle, See Kobold.
No goblin or swart fairy of the mine
Hath hurtful power over true virginity. Milton.