Han-crest, about 1350. 
(From Viollet-le-Duc's 
"nict.duMobilierfran. 
;ais."J 
fancifulness 
motions and astrological calculations, supposeth that re- 
li.uioTi hsith hud its successive alterations and seasons ac- 
cording to certain periodical revolutions of the planets. 
,S<Y -V. Hale, Orig. of Mankind, p. 168. 
Agile movement, and a certain degree of fancifulness, 
are indispensable to rhetoric. De Quincey, Rhetoric. 
fancifyt, v. t. [< fancy + -fy.~\ To imagine ; 
fancy. 
The good she ever delighted to do, and fancified she 
was born to do. Richardson, Clarissa Harlowe, VI. 344. 
fanciless (fan'si-les), a. [< fancy + -less.] 
Destitute of fancy or imagination. 
A pert or bluff important wight, 
Whose brain is fanciless, whose blood is white. 
Armstrong, Taste. 
In this book lay absolutely truth, 
Fanciless fact. Browning, Ring and Book, 1. 11. 
fan-COral (fan'kor'al), . A gorgonian or sea- 
fan ; au alcyonariaii of the order Gorgpniacece, 
and especially of the family Goryoniidce : so 
called from the branching and radiating form. 
A common kind is a species of Rhiptdogorgia. 
See cut under coral. 
There, with a light and easy motion, 
The fan-coral sweeps through the clear, deep sea. 
Percicai, The Coral Grove. 
fan-crest (fan'krest), . A form of crest com- 
mon in the middle ages at dif- 
ferent periods, as in the reign 
of Richard I. of England, 
whose second great seal shows 
this crest, and again at the 
end of the thirteenth century, 
when it assumed the shape 
of a fan or screen with radi- 
ating ribs, attached to the 
helm at a single point. 
fan-crested (fan'kres'ted), a. 
In ornitli., having a crest of 
feathers which opens up and 
shuts down like a fan. The 
hawk-parrot, hoopoe, and royal tody 
have such crests. See cut under hoopoe. 
Fan-crested duck. See <lwt&. 
fan-cricket (fan'krik'et), . 
A name of the mole-cricket, 
fen-cricket, or churr-worm, Gryllotalpa vulgaris. 
See mole-cricket. 
fancy (fan'si), n. and a. [Early mod. E. also 
f ancle, fanny , fant'sy, phant'sy, a contr. of earlier 
fantasy, < H.E. fantasy, fantesy,fantasie, fancy, 
imagination, notion, illusion, inclination, = D. 
fantazie = <3r.fanta$ie = Dan. Svr.fantasi, < OF. 
fantasie, fantaisie, F. fantaisie = Pr. fantazia 
= Sp. fantasia = Pg. it. fantasia, fancy, etc., < 
ML. fantasia, LL. /iltantasia, an idea, notion, 
fancy, phantasm, < (Jr. fyavraaia, the look or ap- 
pearance of a thing, imagination, an impression 
received, image, < (^avra^iv, make visible, pre- 
sent to the eye or mind, < <j>aivfiv, bring to light, 
show, ^ *<t>av, connected with ^ *<t>a in <j>aeiv, 
shine, 0dof, contr. 0uf (ifiur-), light, etc. See phan- 
tasm = fantoin (phantom), fantastic, phenome- 
non, photo-, etc.] I. n. ; p\. fancies (-siz). 1. The 
productive imagination, especially as exercised 
in an unregulated, desultory, or capricious man- 
ner; the power or the act of forming in the mind 
images of unusual, impossible, odd, grotesque, 
whimsical, etc., combinations of things. See 
imagination. 
Among these Fancy next 
Her office holds ; of all external things 
Which the tive watchful senses represent 
She forms imaginations, aery shapes. 
Milton, P. L., v. 102. 
Judgment, indeed, is necessary in him [the poet] ; hut 
it is fancy that gives the life- touches, and the secret graces 
to it. Dryden, Mock Astrologer, Pref. 
The ancient superstitions furnished the fancy with beau- 
tiful images, but took no hold on the heart. 
Macaulay, Dante. 
That which history gives not to the eye, 
The faded coloring of Time's tapestry, 
Let Fancy, with her dream-dipped brush, supply. 
Whittier, Bridal of Pennacook. 
2. The result or product of an exercise of the 
fancy; a fanciful image or conception of the 
mind; a representation in thought, speech, or 
art of anything ideal or imaginary: as, a pleas- 
ing fancy or conceit. 
How now, my lord ? why do yon keep alone, 
Of sorriest fancies your companions making? 
Shalt., Macbeth, ill. 2. 
The bright fancies that, amid the great stillness of the 
night, arise like stars in the firmament of our souls. 
Longfellow, Hyperion, iv. 3. 
3. An idea or opinion formed upon slight 
grounds or with little consideration; a specu- 
lative belief in the possibility orreality of some- 
2136 
thing untried or unknown ; an impression, sup- 
position, or notion: as, that's a 
A strange fancy cam into his head, 
That fair Nanciebel was gane. 
Lord Lonel (Child's Ballads, II. 163). 
I have always had a fancy that learning might be made 
a play and recreation to children. Locke, Education, 148. 
4. Productive or operative taste; design; in- 
vention. 
The New Street [in Genoa] is a double range of palaces 
from one end to the other, built with an excellent fancy, 
and fit for the greatest princes to inhabit. 
Addison, Remarks on Italy (ed. Bonn), I. 362. 
5. Inclination; liking; fondness: as, that which 
suits your fancy. 
Yet a' this shall never danton me, 
Sae lang's I keep my fancy free. 
Old Song, Herd's Coll., II. 20. 
Fair Helena in fancy following me. 
Shak., M. JJ. D., iv. 1. 
But, sir, I have somehow taken & fancy to that picture. 
Sheridan, School for Scandal, iv. 1. 
That which takes my fancy most, in the heroic class, is 
the good-humor and hilarity they exhibit. 
Emerson, Essays, 1st ser., p. 232. 
6. Something that pleases or entertains with- 
out necessarily having real use or value. 
Within a well-roped ring, or on a stage, 
Boxing may l>e a very pretty Fancy. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, I. 100. 
7t. A short, impromptu musical piece, usually 
instrumental ; a fantasy. 
And [Shallow] sung those tunes to the over-scutched 
huswives that he heard the carmen whistle, and sware 
they were his fancies, or his good-nights. 
Shak, 2 Hen. IV., iii. 2. 
8f. One of the ornamental tags or aglets at- 
tached to the points iu the seventeenth century. 
9. A fancy roller (which see, under II.). 
The fancy has been called the scavenger of the carding 
engine. W. C. Bramwell, Wool-Carder, p. 203. 
In form of filleting, suitable for worsted spinning, the 
fancy is provided with spaced rings, so that after each 
six inches of carding surface there is a space of from 1J to 
2 inches, to allow the tacking on of the clothing. 
Manufacturers' lieu., XX. 216. 
The fancy, (a) A cant name for sporting characters col- 
lectively, especially prize-fighters. 
When the fancy was in favor amongst ourselves, the 
pugilist, after entering into any legal engagement, under 
strong penalties, to tight on a day assigned, went into 
training al>out six weeks previously. De Quincey, Plato. 
The clients were proud of their lawyers' unscrupulous- 
ness, as the patrons of the fancy are proud of their cham- 
pion's condition. Geonje. Eliot, Janet's Repentance, ii. 
He must have been a hard hitter if he boxed as he 
preached what The Fancy would call "an ugly cus- 
tomer." Dr. J. Brown, Rah, p. 6. 
(A) Any class of people who cultivate a special taste ; fan- 
ciers collectively. [Rare.] 
At a great book sale in London, which had congregated 
all the fancy. De (Juincey. 
= Syn. 1. Fantasy, etc. See fantasy and imagination. 
2. Conceit. 5. Penchant, bias, vagary, wliimsey. 
II. a. 1. Involving fancy; of a fanciful or 
imaginary nature; ideal; illusory; notional; 
dictated by or dependent on the fancy: as, a 
fancy portrait; fancy prices; fancy strokes or 
touches. 
This anxiety never degenerated into a monomania, like 
that which led his [Frederic the Great's] father to pay 
fancy prices for giants. Macaulay, Frederic the Great. 
2. Fine; elegant; ornamental; adapted to 
please the taste or fancy (as a trade-epithet) ; 
of superfine quality: as, fancy stationery; fan- 
cy flour Fancy fair. See/air2. Fancy goods, (a) 
In trade, fabrics of varied or variegated patterns, as rib- 
bons, silks, satins, etc., differing from those which are 
of a plain or simple style or color, (6) As common- 
ly used, articles of show and ornament, not including 
valuable jewelry, but including appliances of dress less 
useful than ordinary textile materials or garments made 
of them, as women's collars, ruffles, ties, and the like, 
and such articles as inkstands, paper-weights, card-re- 
ceivers, button-hooks, etc., of ornamental design. Fan- 
cy roller, in a carding-machine, a roller placed Imme- 
diately before the doffer. It generally has straight wire 
teeth, and serves to raise the wool on the main cylinder, 
in order that the doffer may take it off readily. E. H. 
Knight. Fancy Shot, in billiards, a stroke with the cue 
intended to make a point in the game by unusual play, or 
to show the skill of the player. Fancy stitch, a more 
or less intricate stitch used for decorative purposes in the 
finer kinds of needlework : opposed to plain stitch. 
It does not take long for two young girls to grow inti- 
mate over tableau plans and fancit stitches. 
Mrs. Whitney, Leslie Goldthwaite, ix. 
Fancy stocks, among American brokers, stocks which, 
having no determinate value from any fixed or probable 
income, fluctuate in price according to the fancy of specu- 
lators. Fancy store or shop, a shop in which fancy 
goods or ornamental tritles are sold. 
The world's people brought in the commercial element 
in the way of fancy shops for the sale of all manner of 
cheap and bizarre "notions." 
C. D. Warner, Their Pilgrimage, p. 139. 
fand 
Fancy work, ornamental knitting, crocheting, tatting, 
embroidery, etc., performed by women: a phrase applied 
generally to that which has but little value or serious pur- 
pose, and especially to that which is not the object of a 
regular industry. 
fancy (fau'si), v. ; pret. and pp. fancied, ppr. 
fancying. [</HCI/, .] I. trans. 1. To form a 
fancy or an ideal conception of ; imagine. 
I fancy'd you a beating ; you must have it. 
Carlicriyht, Ordinary (1651). 
Their whole appearance shows as little variety or taste 
as if their clothes were bespoke by the colonel of a march- 
ing regiment, or fancied by the artist who dresses the 
three battalions of guards. Goldmnith, The Bee, No. 2. 
The relation between the mind and matter is not fan- 
cied by some poet, but stands in the will of God, and so is 
free to be known by all men. Emerson, Nature. 
2. To believe with little or no reason ; imagine ; 
suppose ; presume : as, he fancies that he is ill ; 
I fancy you will fail. 3. To take a fancy to; 
like ; be pleased with. 
Ninus . . . fancied her so strongly as, neglecting all 
princely respects, he took her from her husband. 
Jlaleigh, Hist, World. 
"Bessie, I could/onci/ a Welsh rabbit for supper." "So 
could I with a roast onion. Come, we'll go down." 
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, iii. 
4. To breed or raise, with reference to pleasing 
the fancy; produce as a fancier. [Bare.] 
The wide differences observable in fancied animals. 
Encyc. Brit., IV. 248. 
II. intrans. 1. To have or form a fancy or an 
ideal conception; believe or suppose without 
proof; imagine. 
If our search has reached no farther than simile and 
metaphor, we rather fancy than know. Locke. 
2f. To love. 
Never did young man fancy 
With so eternal and so hx'd a soul. 
SAo*., T. andC., v. 2. 
fancy-free (fan'si-fre), a. Having the fancy or 
affections free ; heart-free ; untrammeled. 
But I might see young Cupid's fiery shaft 
O.uench'd in the chaste beams of the watery moon, 
And the imperial votaress passed on, 
In maiden meditation, fancy-free. 
Shak., M. N. D., ii. 2. 
Pass . . . to the romantic Gothic era, whose genius was 
conglomerate of old and new, and the myths of many ages 
and countries, but still fancy-free, or subject only to a pre- 
tended science as crude and wanton as the fancy Itself. 
Stedman, Viet. Poets, p. 10. 
While literature, gagged with linsey-woolsey, can only 
deal with a fraction of the life of man, talk goes fancy, 
free, and may call a spade a spade. 
Jl. L. Stecenson, Talk and Talkers, I. 
fancy-line (fan'si-lln), n. Naui.: (a) A line 
used for overhauling the lee topping-lift of the 
main- or spanker-boom : often called a tripping- 
line, (b) A line rove through a block at the 
jaws of a gaff, used as a downhaul. (c) A small 
line holding a fair-leader for the hauling part 
of the main-brace. 
fancy-monger (fan'si-mung'ger), n. One who 
deals in fancies or tricks of imagination. 
There is a man haunts the forest that . . . hangs odes 
upon hawthorns, and elegies on brambles : all, forsooth, 
deifying the name of Rosalind; if I could meet that/awcj/- 
inonger, I would give him some good counsel. 
Shak., As you Like it, iii. 2. 
fancy-sick (fan'si-sik),<i. Subject to disordered 
fancy ; of distempered mind ; love-sick. 
All fancy-sick she is, and pale of cheer, 
With sighs of love, that cost the fresh blood dear. 
SAa*., M. N. D., iii. 2. 
fand't (fand). An old preterit of find. 
fand' 2 t, v. t. [< ME. fanden, fonden, fandien, 
fondien, < AS. fandian, try, tempt, prove, in- 
vestigate (= OS. fandon = OFries. fandia = 
MD. vanden, seek,' visit, = OHG. fanton, seek 
out, MHG. vanden, G. fahnden, inform against, 
endeavor to seize), < findan (pret. fand), find: 
see find.'] 1. To seek (to do a thing) ; try; en- 
deavor: followed by an infinitive. 
Fele times have ich fonded to flitte it fro thoust. 
William of Palerne (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 623. 
I will go gete vs light for-thy, 
And fewell fande with me to bryng. 
York Plays, p. 113. 
As thow arte ryghtwise kynge, rewe on thy pople, 
And fande for to venge theme, that thus are rebuykyde ! 
Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.), 1. 807. 
For in the sea to drowne herselfe she fond, 
Rather then of the tyrant to be caught. 
Spenser, F. Q., III. vii. 26. 
2. To prove; test; examine. 
Fande me, God, and mi hert wit thou. 
Ps. cxxxviii. 23 (ME. version). 
Also preoveth God his icorene [chosen] ase the goldsmith 
fondeth thet gold i the fure [fire]. Ancren Riwle, p. 182. 
Everich on, in the Irest wise he can, 
To strengthen hire shal ale his frendes fondc. 
Chaucer, Man of Law's Tale, 1. 249. 
