different between paganism vs fairy

English

Etymology

From Latin p?g?nismus (“heathenism”), from p?g?nus (“peasant, rural, rustic”). The term was used pejoratively by early Muslims and Christians to belittle what remained of the native religions. Synchronically, pagan +? -ism.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?pe???n?zm?/
• Hyphenation: pa?gan?ism

Noun

paganism (countable and uncountable, plural paganisms)

1. Any indigenous polytheistic religion.

   Most people in that region practise their own form of paganism.

2. Any of a class of religions often associated with nature rituals.

   Various neopagan movements have arisen, each advancing its own form of paganism. Some are monotheist.

Coordinate terms

• (religions) religion; Asatru,? Bahá'í Faith,? Buddhism,? Cao Dai,? Cheondoism,? Christianity,? deism,? Druidry,? Eckankar,? Flying Spaghetti Monsterism,? Heathenry,? Hinduism,? Islam,? Jainism,? Jediism,? Judaism,? Kimbanguism,? Odinism,? paganism,? Pastafarianism,? Raëlism,? Rastafarianism,? Shinto,? Sikhism,? Tamilism,? Taoism,? Thelema,? Unitarian Universalism,? Wicca,? Yazidism,? Yoruba,? Zoroastrianism ^{(Category: en:Religion) [edit]}

Related terms

• pagan
• neo-paganism

Translations

See also

• Christianity
• heathen
• heathendom
• heathenism
• gentile

English

Alternative forms

• faery
• faerie
• færie (archaic, nonstandard)
• fairie

Etymology

From Middle English fairye, fairie, from Old French faerie, from fae + -erie, from Vulgar Latin *F?ta (“goddess of fate”), from Latin f?tum (“fate”). Equivalent to Fate +? -ery.

English from ca. 1300, first in the sense of "enchantment, illusion, dream" and later "realm of the fays, fairy-land" or "the inhabitants of fairyland as a collective".The re-interpretation of the term as a countable noun denoting individual inhabitants of fairy-land can be traced to the 1390s, but becomes common only in the 16th century.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?f????i/
• (General American) enPR: fâr??
  • (Mary–marry–merry distinction) IPA^(key): /?f????i/
  • (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /?f??i/
• Rhymes: -???i
• Homophone: ferry (in accents with the Mary-marry-merry merger)

Noun

fairy (countable and uncountable, plural fairies)

1. (uncountable, obsolete) The realm of faerie; enchantment, illusion.
2. A mythical being with magical powers, known in many sizes and descriptions, although often depicted in modern illustrations only as a small sprite with gauze-like wings, and revered in some modern forms of paganism.
3. An enchantress, or creature of overpowering charm.
4. (Northern England, US, derogatory, colloquial) A male homosexual, especially one who is effeminate.
   • 1933, Nathanael West, 'Miss Lonelyhearts' [Miss Lonelyhearts is male.]

     The cripple returned the smile and stuck out his hand. Miss Lonelyhearts clasped it, and they stood this way, smiling and holding hands, until Mrs. Doyle reëntered the room.
     "What a sweet pair of fairies you guys are," she said.
     The cripple pulled his hand away and made as though to strike his wife.

5. A member of two species of hummingbird in the genus Heliothryx.

Synonyms

• (supernatural creature): fay, fey, fae, sprite; see also goblin (hostile)
• (male homosexual): fag (US), faggot (US), poof (UK), queen

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

fairy

1. Like a fairy; fanciful, whimsical, delicate.