Language & Fantasy: Fairies

A fairy is a usually small imaginary figure with magical powers and shaped like a human. The word fairy also refers to a man who behaves in a female way.

A Fairy Godmother is a person who helps, and especially saves, someone who is in trouble (from a story in which Cinderella, an unhappy young woman, is able to go to a ball only because her fairy godmother suddenly appears and magically prodcues a ceautiful dress and a carriage to take her there).

Fairyland is a the land where fairies live. It is also used to refer to a place of delicate and magical beauty.

Fairy tale (or fairy story) a story about fairies and other magical people which always ends happily. It can also mean a story or account that is hard to believe, especially one intended to deceive. Fairytale is an adejctive and it means magical: a fairytale castle / a fairytale romance.

Fairy lights are small coloured lights, especialy those used to decorate a Christmas tree.

Fairy Liquid (also Fairy) is a type of green liquid used for washing dishes, pans, etc.

Fairy Cakes

A cupcake (the common US, Canadian, South African and Australian term) or fairy cake (the common British term), is a small cake designed to serve one person, frequently baked in a small, thin paper or aluminum cup. As with larger cakes, frosting and other cake decorations, such as sprinkles, are common on cupcakes. It is a small, individual-size cake that's usually baked in a muffin pan. Sometimes the cupcake mold is lined with a crimped paper or foil cup. After baking, the paper or foil is simply peeled off before the cupcake is eaten.

The Tooth Fairy

The Tooth Fairy is a mythical character depicted as a fairy that gives a child money or gifts in exchange for a baby tooth that has fallen out. Children typically place the tooth under their pillow at night. The fairy is said to take the tooth from under the pillow and replace it with money once they have fallen asleep.

Fairies in Art

The Fairy Queen is a semi-opera in a prologue and five acts by Purcell to a libretto possibly by E. Settle after Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1692, London).

Edmund Spenser (?1552-99) was an English poet famous especially for his epic poem The Faerie Queenie, which he never finished.

Fairies also appear in Shakespeare's works. In Act 1, scene 4 of Romeo and Juliet Mercutio refers to "Queen Mab" as the Queen of fairies as he sees her accross the room at the Capulet ball. Oberon and Titania are the fairy king and queen in A Midsummer Night's Dream.