fey

See also: Fey

English
WOTD – 14 April 2007
Pronunciation

IPA(key): /feɪ/

Audio (US) (file)

0:01

Rhymes: -eɪ
Homophones: fay

Alternative forms

fay

Etymology 1

From Middle English fey (“fated to die”), from Old English fǣġe
(“doomed to die, timid”), from Proto-Germanic *faigijaz (“cowardly,
wicked”), from Proto-Indo-European *peyk- (“ill-meaning, bad”).
Akin to Old Saxon fēgi, whence Dutch veeg (“doomed, near death”),
Old High German feigi (“appointed for death, ungodly”) whence
German feige (“cowardly”), Old Norse feigr (“doomed”) whence the
Icelandic feigur (“doomed to die”), Old English fāh (“outlawed,
hostile”). More at foe.

Adjective

fey (comparative more fey, superlative most fey)

1. (dialectal, archaic or poetic) About to die; doomed; on the verge

of sudden or violent death.
quotations  ▼
2. (obsolete) Dying; dead.
3. (chiefly Scotland, Ireland) Possessing second sight,
clairvoyance, or clairaudience.
4. Overrefined, affected.
quotations  ▼
5. Strange or otherworldly.
quotations  ▼
6. Spellbound.
Derived terms

feydom
Translations
doomed to die show ▼
strange or otherworldly show ▼

llb d h ▼
spellbound show ▼
Etymology 2

From Middle English faie, fei (“a place or person possessed with
magical properties”), from Middle French feie, fee (“fairy", "fae”).
More at fairy.

Adjective

fey (comparative more fey, superlative most fey)

1. Magical or fairylike.
Translations
magical or fairylike show ▼
Noun

fey pl (plural only)

1. Fairy folk collectively.

Synonyms

See fairy

See also

fay
 fae

Anagrams

Fye, fye

Mapudungun

Pronoun

fey (Raguileo spelling)

1. Third-person singular personal pronoun. he, she, it.

See also
Mapudungun personal pronouns show ▼

Middle English

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old English fǣġe, from Proto-West Germanic *faigī,

from Proto-Germanic *faigijaz.

Alternative forms

(Early ME) fæie, væie, fæy, feiȝe, vaiȝe, feaye

feye, fay, faie, veie, veye, faye, fei, vey
Pronunciation

IPA(key): /ˈfɛi̯(ə)/
(Southern ME) IPA(key): /ˈvɛi̯(ə)/
Rhymes: -ɛi̯(ə)
Adjective

fey

1.
2. Marked, fated for, or destined for death; doomed.
3. Approaching or near one's deathbed; about to pass away.
4. (rare) Tending to cause or leading to death; dangerous.
5. (rare) Having bad luck; frowned upon by fate or fortune.
6. (rare) Weak, afflicted, or vulnerable.
Descendants

English: fey, fay

Scots: fey
References

“fei(e, adj. (https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-english-dictionar

y/dictionary/MED15450) ”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.:
University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-1-3.
Etymology 2

Borrowed from Old French feie (modern French foie), from Latin
fīcātum.

Alternative forms

fee
Pronunciation

IPA(key): /ˈfɛi̯(ə)/
Rhymes: -ɛi̯(ə)

Noun

fey

1.
2. (rare) The liver as used in cooking.

References

“fei, n. (https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-english-dictionary/di
ctionary/MED15449) ”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University
of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-1-3.

Scots
Noun

fey (plural feys)

1. a premonition of death

Adjective

fey

1. possessing second sight, premonitory

Volapük

Pronunciation

IPA(key): /fej/

Noun

fey (nominative plural feys)

1. fairy
Declension
declension of fey

Wolof
Etymology
Probably from Upper Guinea Creole, from a conflation of Portuguese
pagar (“to pay”) and Portuguese apagar (“to extinguish, to turn off”).
In that case cognate with Guinea-Bissau Creole paga.
Verb
fey
1. to pay
2. to extinguish; to turn off
3. to respond to a greeting
References
Jean-Léopold Diouf (2003) Dictionnaire wolof-français et français-
wolof, Éditions KARTHALA, → ISBN, page 126
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