different between fancy vs fable

English

Alternative forms

• fant’sy, phancie, phancy, phansie, phansy, phant’sy (all obsolete)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fæn.si/
• Rhymes: -ænsi

Etymology 1

From Middle English fansy, fantsy, a contraction of fantasy, fantasye, fantasie, from Old French fantasie, from Medieval Latin fantasia, from Late Latin phantasia (“an idea, notion, fancy, phantasm”), from Ancient Greek ???????? (phantasía), from ??????? (phantáz?, “to render visible”), from ?????? (phantós, “visible”), from ????? (phaín?, “to make visible”); from the same root as ??? (phôs, “light”). Doublet of fantasia, fantasy, phantasia, and phantasy.

Noun

fancy (plural fancies)

1. The imagination.
   • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 5, lines 100-103,^[1]

     […] But know that in the soul

     Are many lesser faculties, that serve

     Reason as chief; among these Fancy next

     Her office holds […]

   • 1842, Alfred Tennyson, Locksley Hall

     In the Spring a livelier iris changes on the burnish’d dove; / In the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.

   • 1861, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, “A New Counterblast” in Atlantic Monthly, December 1861, p. 700,^[2]

     Rustic females who habitually chew even pitch or spruce-gum are rendered thereby so repulsive that the fancy refuses to pursue the horror farther and imagine it tobacco […]
2. An image or representation of anything formed in the mind.

   Synonyms: conception, thought, idea

   • c. 1605, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act III, Scene 2,^[3]

     How now, my lord! why do you keep alone,

     Of sorriest fancies your companions making,

     Using those thoughts which should indeed have died

     With them they think on?

3. An opinion or notion formed without much reflection.

   Synonym: impression

   • 1650, John Bulwer, Anthropometamorphosis: Man Transform’d, 2nd edition, London, 1653, Epistle Dedicatory, pp. 2-3,^[4]

     When you have well viewed the Scenes and Devillish shapes of this Practicall Metamorphosis, and scan’d them in your serious thoughts, you will wonder at their audacious phant’sies, who seeme to hold Specificall deformities, or that any part can seeme unhandsome in their Eyes, which hath appeared good and beautifull unto their Maker […]

   • 1693, John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education, 13th edition, London, 1764, §148, p. 222, ^[5]

     I have always had a Fancy, that Learning might be made a Play and Recreation to Children […]
4. A whim.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:whim

5. Love or amorous attachment.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:predilection

6. The object of inclination or liking.
   • c. 1595, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act I, Scene 1,^[7]

     For you, fair Hermia, look you arm yourself

     To fit your fancies to your father’s will;

7. Any sport or hobby pursued by a group.

   Synonyms: hobby; see also Thesaurus:hobby

8. The enthusiasts of such a pursuit.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:fan

   • 1830, Thomas De Quincey, “Review of Life of Richard Bentley, D.D. by J.H. Monk, D.D.” in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 28, No. 171, September 1830, p. 446, footnote,^[8]

     […] at a great book sale in London, which had congregated all the Fancy, on a copy occurring, not one of the company but ourself knew what the mystical title-page meant.

9. A diamond with a distinctive colour.
10. That which pleases or entertains the taste or caprice without much use or value.
    • 18th century, John Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving Land, cited in Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, 1755,^[9]

      London-pride is a pretty fancy, and does well for borders.

11. A bite-sized sponge cake, with a layer of cream, covered in icing.

    a French fancy; a fondant fancy; cream fancies

12. (obsolete) A sort of love song or light impromptu ballad.
    • c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 2, Act III, Scene 2,^[10]

      [He] sung those tunes to the overscutch’d huswifes that he heard the carmen whistle, and sware they were his fancies or his good-nights.

13. In the game of jacks, a style of play involving additional actions (contrasted with plainsies).
    • 1970, Marta Weigle, Follow my fancy: the book of jacks and jack games (page 22)

      When you have mastered plainsies, the regular jack game, and have learned all the rules, you will be ready to use this part of the book. A fancy is a variation of plainsies which usually requires more skill than plainsies does.

    • 2002, Elizabeth Dana Jaffe, Sherry L. Field, Linda D. Labbo, Jacks (page 26)

      When you get good at jacks, try adding a fancy. A fancy is an extra round at the end of a game. It makes the game a little harder. Jack Be Nimble, Around the World, or Black Widow are some fancies.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

fancy (comparative fancier, superlative fanciest)

1. Decorative.

   Synonyms: decorative, ornate

   Antonyms: plain, simple

2. Of a superior grade.

   Synonym: high-end

3. Executed with skill.

4. (colloquial) Unnecessarily complicated.

   Synonym: highfalutin

   Antonym: simple

5. (obsolete) Extravagant; above real value.

Derived terms

• fancy man

Translations

Descendants

• ? German: fancy
• ? Norwegian Bokmål: fancy
• ? Norwegian Nynorsk: fancy

Adverb

fancy (not comparable)

1. (nonstandard) In a fancy manner; fancily.

Etymology 2

From Middle English fancien, fantasien, fantesien, from Old French fantasier, from the noun (see above)).

Verb

fancy (third-person singular simple present fancies, present participle fancying, simple past and past participle fancied)

1. (formal) To appreciate without jealousy or greed.

2. (Britain) would like

   Synonym: feel like

3. (Britain, informal) To be sexually attracted to.

   Synonym: (US) like

4. (dated) To imagine, suppose.

   • If our search has reached no farther than simile and metaphor, we rather fancy than know.

   • 1857-1859, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Virginians

     He fancied he was welcome, because those around him were his kinsmen.

   • 1895, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X

     I fancied at first the stuff was paraffin wax, and smashed the jar accordingly. But the odor of camphor was unmistakable.

5. To form a conception of; to portray in the mind.

   Synonym: imagine

   • he whom I fancy, but can ne'er express

6. To have a fancy for; to like; to be pleased with, particularly on account of external appearance or manners.
7. (transitive) To breed (animals) as a hobby.
   • 1973, American Pigeon Journal (page 159)

     I would recommend this little book very highly to anyone who fancies pigeons, novices and veterans alike.

Derived terms

• fancy man
• fancy one's chances
• fancy that

Translations

See also

• fantasy
• fancy man
• fancypants
• fancy woman

References

Further reading

• Fancy in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

German

Etymology

Borrowed from English fancy. Doublet of Fantasie.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fænsi/

Adjective

fancy (not comparable)

1. (colloquial, fashion) fancy

Declension

Further reading

• “fancy” in Duden online

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from English fancy.

Adjective

fancy (indeclinable)

1. fancy

References

• “fancy” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from English fancy.

Adjective

fancy (indeclinable)

1. fancy

References

• “fancy” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

English

Etymology

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French fable, from Latin f?bula, from f?r? (“to speak, say”) + -bula (“instrumental suffix”). See ban, and compare fabulous, fame. Doublet of fabula.

Pronunciation

• enPR: f??b?l, IPA^(key): /?fe?b?l/
• Rhymes: -e?b?l
• Hyphenation: fa?ble

Noun

fable (plural fables)

1. A fictitious narrative intended to enforce some useful truth or precept, usually with animals, etc. as characters; an apologue. Prototypically, Aesop's Fables.

   Synonym: morality play

2. Any story told to excite wonder; common talk; the theme of talk.

   • Old wives' fables.

   Synonym: legend

3. Fiction; untruth; falsehood.
4. The plot, story, or connected series of events forming the subject of an epic or dramatic poem.

Derived terms

• personal fable
• fabulist

Translations

Verb

fable (third-person singular simple present fables, present participle fabling, simple past and past participle fabled)

1. (intransitive, archaic) To compose fables; hence, to write or speak fiction; to write or utter what is not true.
   • 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 1, Act IV, Scene 2,^[1]

     He fables not; I hear the enemy:

     Out, some light horsemen, and peruse their wings.

   • 1706, Matthew Prior, “An Ode, Humbly Inscribed to the Queen,” stanza 17, in Samuel Johnson (editor), The Works of the English Poets, London, 1779, Volume 30, p. 254,^[2]

     Vain now the tales which fabling poets tell,

     That wavering Conquest still desires to rove!

     In Marlborough’s camp the goddess knows to dwell:

     Long as the hero’s life remains her love.

   • 1852, Matthew Arnold, Empedocles on Etna, Act II, in Empedocles on Etna and Other Poems, London: B. Fellowes, p. 50,^[3]

     He fables, yet speaks truth.

2. (transitive, archaic) To make up; to devise, and speak of, as true or real; to tell of falsely; to recount in the form of a fable.
   • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book VI, lines 288-292,^[4]

     […] err not, that so shall end

     The strife which thou callest evil, but we style

     The strife of glory; which we mean to win,

     Or turn this Heaven itself into the Hell

     Thou fablest […]

   • 1691, Arthur Gorges (translator), The Wisdom of the Ancients by Francis Bacon (1609), London, “Cassandra, or, Divination,” ^[5]

     The Poets Fable, That Apollo being enamoured of Cassandra, was by her many shifts and cunning slights still deluded in his Desire […]

   • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses, Chapter II,^[6]

     Fabled by the daughters of memory. And yet it was in some way if not as memory fabled it. A phrase, then, of impatience, thud of Blake’s wings of excess. […]

   Synonyms: make up, invent, feign, devise

Derived terms

• fabler

Translations

Further reading

• fable in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• befal

French

Etymology

From Old French fable, borrowed from Latin fabula.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fabl/

Noun

fable f (plural fables)

1. fable, story

Synonyms

• conte
• histoire

Related terms

• affabulation

Further reading

• “fable” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From the noun fabel, ultimately from Latin fabula, from f?(r?) (“to speak, say”) + -bula (“instrumental suffix”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f??bl?/

Verb

fable (imperative fabl or fable, present tense fabler, passive fables, simple past and past participle fabla or fablet)

1. to fantasize, dream

   fable om suksess

   dream about success

Derived terms

• fabel

References

• “fable” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From the noun fabel, ultimately from Latin fabula, from f?(r?) (“to speak, say”) + -bula (“instrumental suffix”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f??bl?/

Verb

fable (imperative fabl, present tense fablar, simple past and past participle fabla)

1. to fantasize, dream

   fable om suksess

   dream about success

2. to make up (something)

Derived terms

• fabel

References

• “fable” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fabula.

Noun

fable f (oblique plural fables, nominative singular fable, nominative plural fables)

1. fable, story

Synonyms

• conte
• estoire

Descendants

• ? Dutch: fabel
• ? English: fable
• French: fable

Spanish

Verb

fable

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of fablar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of fablar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of fablar.
4. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of fablar.