Where does “fancy” come from?
Fancy derives from Middle English fansy and fantasy, from Old French fantasie, from Latin phantasia, from Ancient Greek φαντασία meaning "appearance" or "imagination," ultimately from φαίνω meaning "to show" or "appear."
fancy (English): The imagination; An image or representation of...
Definitions
- The imagination; An image or representation of...
Ancestry of “fancy”, step by step
fancy traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via French fantaisie
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | fantaisie | fantasy; imagination; fantasia |
| 2 | German | Phantasie | — |
| 3 | Italian | fantasticare | to daydream; to fantasize |
| 4 | Spanish | fantasear | to fantasize |
| 5 | Spanish | fantasía | fantasy; costume jewellery; make-believe |
| 6 | Latin | phantasia | fancy, idea, notion; fantasy; phantom,... |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | φαντασία | look, appearance, presentation, display; showy... |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | φᾰ́ντᾰσῐς | — |
| 9 | Ancient Greek | φᾰντᾰ́ζω | make visible; to make visible, show; to become... |
| 10 | Ancient Greek | φαίνω | I cause to appear, bring to light; I show,... |
| 11 | English | -type | impressed form; stamp; print; typical form; Used... |
| 12 | Ancient Greek | τύπος | A blow, pressing; The results of a blow: mark,... |
| 13 | Ancient Greek | τύπτω | to beat, strike, smite; to beat, strike oneself |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)tewp- | to push, to stick |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)tew- | to push, to hit |