Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FAI'RY, n. [G. fee; Fr. fée, whence féer, to enchant, féerie, a fairy land; It. fata. The origin of this word is not obvious, and the radical letters are uncertain. The conjectures of Baxter, Jamieson and others throw no satisfactory light on the subject.]

1. A fay; an imaginary being or spirit, supposed to assume a human form, dance in meadows, steal infants and play a variety of pranks. [See Elf and Demon.] Locke. Pope.
2. An enchantress. Shak. Fairy of the mine, an imaginary being supposed to inhabit mines, wandering about in the drifts and chambers, always employed in cutting ore, turning the windlass, &c., yet effecting nothing. The Germans believe in two species; one fierce and malevolent, the other gentle. [See Cobalt.] Encyc. Fairy ring or circle, a phenomenon observed in fields, vulgarly supposed to be caused by fairies in their dances. This circle is of two kinds; one about seven yards in diameter, containing a round bare path, a foot broad, with green grass in the middle; the other of different size, encompassed with grass. Encyc.