fay
/feɪ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.29 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To join (pieces of timber) tightly. The long edges of the staves of a barrel have to be fayed so that when it is assembled it will not leak.
Transitive verb
noun
A fairy.
adj
Fairy-like.
Example Sentences
- "I have a strip cutter and I can cut the exact widths I need to fit, they are easy to fay together and attach very firmly to the bulkheads."
- "Under the four outer corners of the horizontal frame platform 22 are four tubular leg sleeves 23 that are fay together one at each outer corner."
- "that mighty Princesse did complaine / Of grieuous mischiefes, which a wicked Fay / Had wrought [...]."
- "A Nimph is marryed to a Fay, Great preparations for the Day, All Rites of Nuptials they recite you, To the Brydall and inuite you."
- "Which is sixteen leagues long, but is so full of Fairie and strange things that few people pass there without being lost or stopt, because therewithin dwelleth a king, Oberon the Fay."
- "Ah, sirrah, by my fay, it waxes late. I'll to my rest."
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English feyen, feien, from Old English fēġan (“to join, unite”), from Proto-West Germanic *fōgijan, from Proto-Germanic *fōgijaną (“to join”), from *fōgō (“joint, slot”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“to fasten, place”). Akin to Saterland Frisian fougje (“to join, add”), West Frisian foegje (“to join, add”), Dutch voegen (“to add, place”), German Low German fögen (“to join, add”), German fügen (“to connect”), Old English fōn (“to catch”). More at fang.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Usage
- Obsolete
- Transitive verb
- Intransitive verb
- American usage
- Slang
Inflected Forms
fays (present, singular)
faying (participle, present)
fayed (participle, past)
fayed (past)
more fay (comparative)
most fay (superlative)
fays (plural)
Faye (alternative)