fairy circlen.
/ˈfɛːrɪ ˌsəːkl/, U.S. /ˈfɛri ˌsərkəl/ 1. = fairy ring n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > herb or herbaceous plant > [noun] > herbage or grass > fairy-ring
fairy circle1596
ringleta1616
fairy ground1627
fairy dance1676
fairy walk1687
fairy ring1712
fairy green1819
1596 T. Nashe Haue with you to Saffron-Walden sig. O4v More..creases..in his face, than there be Fairie circles on Salsburie Plaine.
1653 H. More Antidote against Atheisme iii. xi. §1 Those dark Rings in the grass which they call Fairy-Circles.
1767 J. Priestley Hist. & Present State Electr. viii. ix. 670 A curious article..relating to those fairy circles..confirms the supposition of their being occasioned by lightning.
1792 Gentleman's Mag. June 525/1 There exists in a meadow..the most perfect Fairy-circle I ever in my life observed.
1854 in Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club (1873) 7 32 In the churchyard there is a large..fairy circle.
1884 Jrnl. Proc. in Trans. Essex Field Club 3 p. lxix A fairy circle of Fungi.
1900 Jrnl. N.Y. Bot. Garden 166 Rings of grass known as fairy rings, fairy circles, fairy dances, or pixy rings.
1998 W. Olivier & S. Olivier Overland through S. Afr. 143 A conspicuous feature of the Marienfluss are the mysterious fairy circles—circular patches of earth devoid of vegetation.
2. = fairy ring n. 1. Now rare.
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the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > fairy or elf > [noun] > fairy-ring
circle1563
fairy ring1600
roundelaya1635
fairy circlea1678
mushroom ring1807
pixie ring1837
a1678 A. Marvell Misc. Poems (1681) 91 Their Females fragrant as the Mead Which they in Fairy Circles tread.
1713 R. Bentley Remarks Disc. Free-thinking 37 'Tis labouring in a Fairy Circle, 'tis begging and supposing the thing in debate.
1798 S. E. Brydges Arthur Fitz-Albini I. iv. 85 Why did such visions wild thy soul entrance, And fairy circles to thy fancy dance?
1859 Ld. Tennyson Guinevere in Idylls of King 238 The flickering fairy-circle wheel'd and broke Flying.
2004 R. Bowen Evan's Gate xii. 99 My grandfather..saw them [sc. fairies] once when he was young... They were dancing in a fairy circle.
Derivatives
ˈfairy-circled adj. now rare (of the ground, grass, etc.) marked with fairy circles or fairy rings.
ΚΠ
1777 T. Warton Monody in Poems 7 Fancy's fairy-circled shrine.
1812 G. Daniel Misc. Poems 120 Peace to thy gentle shade! where'er it roves, By fairy-circled plain, or moonlight stream.
1912 A. Noyes Tales of Mermaid Tavern (1913) v. 107 Her feet..beat a rosier morrice o'er the fairy-circled green.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1596