Familiar vs Fairy - What's the difference?
familiar | fairy |
Known to one.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Acquainted.
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=20 Intimate or friendly.
* Shakespeare
Inappropriately intimate or friendly.
Of or pertaining to a family; familial.
* Byron
(obsolete) A member of one's family or household.
(obsolete) A close friend.
*, II.i.4.2:
An attendant spirit, often in animal form.
(uncountable, obsolete) the realm of faerie; enchantment, illusion.
A mythical being who had magical powers, known in many sizes and descriptions, although often depicted in modern illustrations only as small and spritely with gauze-like wings; A sprite.
(Northern England, US, derogatory, colloquial) a male homosexual, especially one who is effeminate.
(paganism) A nature spirit revered in modern paganism.
Two species of hummingbird in the genus Heliothryx.
As an adjective familiar
is familial.As a noun fairy is
(uncountable|obsolete) the realm of faerie; enchantment, illusion.familiar
English
Adjective
(en adjective)Welcome to the plastisphere, passage=Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.}}
citation, passage=The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. No one queried it. It was in the classic pattern of human weakness, mean and embarrassing and sad.}}
- Be thou familiar , but by no means vulgar.
- (Camden)
- familiar feuds
Synonyms
* (acquainted) acquainted * close, friendly, intimate, personal * (inappropriately intimate or friendly) cheeky, fresh, impudentAntonyms
* (known to one) unfamiliar, unknown * (acquainted) unacquainted * (intimate) cold, cool, distant, impersonal, standoffish, unfriendlyDerived terms
* overfamiliar * familiarity * familiarlyNoun
(en noun)- a friend of mine, that finding a receipt in Brassavola, would needs take hellebore in substance, and try it on his own person; but had not some of his familiars come to visit him by chance, he had by his indiscretion hazarded himself; many such I have observed.
- The witch’s familiar was a black cat.