Fey or Fay?

We use the word 'fey' a lot—it shows up in genre after genre, including modern fairy tale literature, urban fantasy, speculative fiction and magic realism. Oftentimes, when I come across a word that seems to have blasted its way into the zeitgeist, I reach for my trusty OED to see if we've created a new usage, or are merely revisiting an old one.

So, what do these words mean?

Fey—according to the OED, fey is an adjective meaning, "giving an impression of vague unworldliness, having supernatural powers of clairvoyance," and, chiefly Scottish, "fated to die or at the point of death".

Fay—according to the OED, fay is a noun, meaning "fairy".

Simple, right? Not quite. The dictionary goes on to note that,

Fey derives from the Old English fæge (“doomed to die”) and carries the related sense “in an unusually excited state (like one about to die).” By an extension, the word came to mean “whimsical, otherworldly, eccentric,” perhaps from confusion with fay (= a fairy or elf). This shift in meaning was noticed as early as 1950. Today the word's original meaning is all but forgotten.

The Merriam Webster online gives the etymology of "fey" as Middle English feye, from Old English fæge; akin to Old High German feigi doomed and perhaps to Old English fāh hostile, outlawed,related to foe, and dated prior to the 12th century, and "fay" as Middle English faie, from the Anglo-French fee.

Interesting, isn't it? It seems a shame, though, that "fey" is losing its original meaning, while "fay" is so little used that few have probably ever heard the word, even if the evolution of language is a necessary part of growth and development. But even if we fail to see "fey" and "fay" used in their original sense, at least we can be aware of where they came from.