fey

views updated Jun 11 2018

fey / / • adj. giving an impression of vague unworldliness: his mother was a strange, fey woman. ∎  having supernatural powers of clairvoyance.

fey

views updated Jun 08 2018

fey originally (in Old English, in form fǣge) fated to die soon; the word is of Germanic origin, and related to German feige ‘cowardly’.

The original meaning is still current in Scottish usage, but from the early 19th century the word has developed a more general sense of giving an impression of vague unworldliness, having supernatural powers of clairvoyance.

Fey

views updated May 23 2018

Fey

A term with various meanings: cowardly, doomed, or gifted with second sight. The most common definition is possessing second sight, in which sense the term is more widely used in Scotland. The word seems to mean "fated" (i.e., possessing some special occult destiny), which indicates either the doom of early death or the faculty of second sight.