The word fairy derives from Middle English faierie (also fayerye, feirie, fairie), a direct borrowing from Old French faerie (Modern French féerie) meaning the land, realm, o characteristic activity (i.e. enchantment) of the legendary people of folklore and romance called (in Old French) faie o fee (Modern French fée). This derived ultimately from Late Latin fata (one of the personified Fates, hence a guardian o tutelary spirit, hence a spirit in general); cf. Italian fata, Portuguese fada, Spanish hada of the same origin.
Fata, although it became a feminine noun in the Romance languages,...
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