Noun

(fancies)

The imagination.

* Milton

In the soul / Are many lesser faculties, that serve / Reason as chief. Among these fancy next / Her office holds.

An image or representation of anything formed in the mind; conception; thought; idea.

* Shakespeare

How now, my lord! why do you keep alone, / Of sorriest fancies your companions making?

An opinion or notion formed without much reflection; an impression.

* John Locke

I have always had a fancy that learning might be made a play and recreation to children.

A whim.

I had a fancy to learn to play the flute.

Love or amorous attachment.

He took a fancy to her.

The object of inclination or liking.

* Shakespeare

to fit your fancies to your father's will

Any sport or hobby pursued by a group.

Trainspotting is the fancy of a special lot.

the cat fancy

The enthusiasts of such a pursuit.

He fell out of favor with the boxing fancy after the incident.

* De Quincey

a great book sale in London, which had congregated all the fancy

A diamond with a distinctive colour.

That which pleases or entertains the taste or caprice without much use or value.

* Mortimer

London pride is a pretty fancy for borders.

(obsolete) A sort of love song or light impromptu ballad.

(Shakespeare)

In the game of jacks, a style of play involving additional actions (contrasted with plainsies).

* 1970 , Marta Weigle, Follow my fancy: the book of jacks and jack games (page 22)

When you have mastered plainsies, the regular jack game, and have learned all the rules, you will be ready to use this part of the book. A fancy is a variation of plainsies which usually requires more skill than plainsies does.

* 2002 , Elizabeth Dana Jaffe, ?Sherry L. Field, ?Linda D. Labbo, Jacks (page 26)

When you get good at jacks, try adding a fancy . A fancy is an extra round at the end of a game. It makes the game a little harder. Jack Be Nimble, Around the World, or Black Widow are some fancies.

Noun

(en noun)

Something invented.

* 1944 November 28, Irving Brecher and Fred F. Finklehoffe, Meet Me in St. Louis , Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer:

Warren Sheffield is telephoning Rose long distance at half past six. Personally, I wouldn't marry a man who proposed to me over an invention .

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-10-05, volume=409, issue=8856, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= The widening gyre , passage=British inventions have done more to influence the shape of the modern world than those of any other country. Many—football, the steam engine and Worcestershire sauce, to take a random selection—have spread pleasure, goodwill and prosperity. Others—the Maxim gun, the Shrapnel shell and jellied eels—have not.}}

The act of inventing.

* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author=(Henry Petroski)

, magazine=(American Scientist), title= The Evolution of Eyeglasses , passage=Digging deeper, the invention of eyeglasses is an elaboration of the more fundamental development of optics technology. The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone,

The capacity to invent.

(music) A small, self-contained composition, particularly those in J.S. Bach’s Two-'' and ''Three-part Inventions .

* 1880 , (George Grove) (editor and entry author), , page 15, Invention:

INVENTION .?A term used by J. S. Bach, and probably by him only, for small pianoforte pieces?—?15 in 2 parts and 15 in 3 parts?—?each developing a single idea, and in some measure answering to the Impromptu of a later day.

(label) The act of discovering or finding; the act of finding out; discovery.