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fay

verb
/feɪ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English feyen, feien, from Old English fēġan (“to join, unite”), from Proto-West Germanic *fōgijan, from Proto-Germanic *fōgijaną (“to join”), from *fōgō (“joint, slot”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“to fasten, place”). Akin to Saterland Frisian fougje (“to join, add”), West Frisian foegje (“to join, add”), Dutch voegen (“to add, place”), German Low German fögen (“to join, add”), German fügen (“to connect”), Old English fōn (“to catch”). More at fang.

  1. derived from *peh₂ḱ-✻ — “to fasten, place”
  2. inherited from *fōgijaną✻ — “to join”
  3. inherited from *fōgijan✻
  4. inherited from fēġan — “to join, unite”
  5. inherited from feyen

Definitions

  1. To fit, to add.

  2. To join (pieces of timber) tightly. The long edges of the staves of a barrel have to be…

    To join (pieces of timber) tightly. The long edges of the staves of a barrel have to be fayed so that when it is assembled it will not leak.

    • I have a strip cutter and I can cut the exact widths I need to fit, they are easy to fay together and attach very firmly to the bulkheads.

  3. Of pieces of timber

    Of pieces of timber: to lie close together.

  4. ›+ 12 more definitions

    1. To fadge.

    2. Fitted closely together.

      • Under the four outer corners of the horizontal frame platform 22 are four tubular leg sleeves 23 that are fay together one at each outer corner.

    3. A fairy.

      • that mighty Princesse did complaine / Of grieuous mischiefes, which a wicked Fay / Had wrought [...].

    4. Fairy-like.

    5. faith

      • Ah, sirrah, by my fay, it waxes late. I'll to my rest.

    6. To cleanse

      To cleanse; clean out.

    7. A white person.

    8. White

      White; white-skinned.

      • I really went for Ray's press roll on the drums; he was the first fay boy I ever heard who mastered this vital foundation of jazz music.

    9. An Anglo-Irish surname transferred from the nickname, Anglicized from de Fae a Norman…

      An Anglo-Irish surname transferred from the nickname, Anglicized from de Fae a Norman family that settled in Ireland.

    10. A surname from Irish, anglicized from Ó Fiaich and Ó Fathaigh. (see Fahey.)

    11. A female given name, pet form of Faith or Frances

      A female given name, pet form of Faith or Frances; often used as a middle name.

    12. A place name

      A place name:

The neighborhood

Derived

faying surface

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for fay. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA