Where does “fairy” come from?
Fairy comes from Middle English fairie, from Old French faerie, formed from Old French -erie added to a root ultimately derived from Latin fata, the plural of fatum meaning "fate."
fairy (English): The realm of faerie; enchantment, illusion; A...
Definitions
- The realm of faerie; enchantment, illusion; A...
Ancestry of “fairy”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | fairie | Alternative form of fairye |
| 2 | Middle English | fairye | The land or domain in which magical or... |
| 3 | Old French | faerie | the sphere or realm of enchantment, magic or... |
| 4 | Old French | fae | — |
| 5 | Latin | fāta | Fate; Moira; goddess who controls destiny; divine personification of fate |
| 6 | Latin | fātum | destiny, fate, lot |
| 7 | Latin | fātus | spoken, said, told, foretold, related, predicted; having or had spoken, etc |
| 8 | Latin | for | "defective"; I speak, talk, say |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | fāōr | speak |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰéh₂ti | to speak, to be talking |