"fairy dance" meaning in English

See fairy dance in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: fairy dances [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun}} fairy dance (plural fairy dances)
  1. (folklore) A dance performed by fairies, especially one in which humans are enticed only to find that when released years or centuries have passed.
    Sense id: en-fairy_dance-en-noun-TtPbhyfh Categories (other): Folklore, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 67 33 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 89 11 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 90 10 Topics: arts, folklore, history, human-sciences, literature, media, publishing, sciences
  2. (obsolete) Synonym of fairy ring (“a ring of fungi; a place where fairies dance”). Tags: obsolete Synonyms: fairy ring [synonym, synonym-of]
    Sense id: en-fairy_dance-en-noun-yyX44w1Y

Inflected forms

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    {
      "form": "fairy dances",
      "tags": [
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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          "_dis": "89 11",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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          "_dis": "90 10",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A dance performed by fairies, especially one in which humans are enticed only to find that when released years or centuries have passed."
      ],
      "id": "en-fairy_dance-en-noun-TtPbhyfh",
      "links": [
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(folklore) A dance performed by fairies, especially one in which humans are enticed only to find that when released years or centuries have passed."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "arts",
        "folklore",
        "history",
        "human-sciences",
        "literature",
        "media",
        "publishing",
        "sciences"
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          "ref": "1679, John Evelyn, Sylva, or a Discourſe of Foreſt-trees, London: John Martyn, page 226:",
          "text": "[B]y which means, all the virtue is drawn forth and carried away, leaving little more than a dry and inſipid congeſtion of Caput Mortuum, and perhaps a florid green Circle, or Fairy dance at the bottom, which the impregnated rains have inrich'd with what it has waſh'd from the heap.",
          "type": "quotation"
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          "ref": "a.''' 1697, John Aubrey, (untitled MS); quoted in Alexander Dyce, Sir Thomas More: A Play, London: The Shakespeare Society, 1844, page 235:",
          "text": "In the yeare 1633-4, soone after I had entered into my grammar at the Latin Schoole at Yatton Keynel, our curate Mr. Hart was annoy’d one night by these elves or fayries, Comming over the downes, it being neere darke, and approching one of the faiery dances, as the common people call them in these parts, viz. the greene circles made by those sprites on the grasse, he all at once sawe an innumerable quantity of pigmies or very small people dancing rounde and rounde, and singing, and making all maner of small odd noyses.",
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          "ref": "1846, James Orchard Halliwell, A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, London: John Russell Smith, page 345:",
          "text": "Fairy-circles, fairy-rings, or fairy-dances, circles of coarse green grass often seen in meadows and downs, and attributed to the dancing of the fairies.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
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        "Synonym of fairy ring (“a ring of fungi; a place where fairies dance”)."
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        "(obsolete) Synonym of fairy ring (“a ring of fungi; a place where fairies dance”)."
      ],
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    "English nouns",
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  "forms": [
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      "tags": [
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  "head_templates": [
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  "senses": [
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        "A dance performed by fairies, especially one in which humans are enticed only to find that when released years or centuries have passed."
      ],
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        "(folklore) A dance performed by fairies, especially one in which humans are enticed only to find that when released years or centuries have passed."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "arts",
        "folklore",
        "history",
        "human-sciences",
        "literature",
        "media",
        "publishing",
        "sciences"
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          "ref": "1679, John Evelyn, Sylva, or a Discourſe of Foreſt-trees, London: John Martyn, page 226:",
          "text": "[B]y which means, all the virtue is drawn forth and carried away, leaving little more than a dry and inſipid congeſtion of Caput Mortuum, and perhaps a florid green Circle, or Fairy dance at the bottom, which the impregnated rains have inrich'd with what it has waſh'd from the heap.",
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          "ref": "a.''' 1697, John Aubrey, (untitled MS); quoted in Alexander Dyce, Sir Thomas More: A Play, London: The Shakespeare Society, 1844, page 235:",
          "text": "In the yeare 1633-4, soone after I had entered into my grammar at the Latin Schoole at Yatton Keynel, our curate Mr. Hart was annoy’d one night by these elves or fayries, Comming over the downes, it being neere darke, and approching one of the faiery dances, as the common people call them in these parts, viz. the greene circles made by those sprites on the grasse, he all at once sawe an innumerable quantity of pigmies or very small people dancing rounde and rounde, and singing, and making all maner of small odd noyses.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
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              31,
              43
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1846, James Orchard Halliwell, A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, London: John Russell Smith, page 345:",
          "text": "Fairy-circles, fairy-rings, or fairy-dances, circles of coarse green grass often seen in meadows and downs, and attributed to the dancing of the fairies.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
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      ],
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          "tags": [
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      "tags": [
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  ],
  "word": "fairy dance"
}

Download raw JSONL data for fairy dance meaning in English (2.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (ccec6f1 and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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