Fancy, n.; pl. Fancies.
Etymology: [Contr. fr. fantasy, OF. fantasie, fantaisie, F. fantaisie, L. phantasia, fr. Gr. bhato shine. Cf. Fantasy, Fantasia, Epiphany, Phantom.]
1. The faculty by which the mind forms an image or a representation of anything perceived before; the power of combining and modifying such objects into new pictures or images; the power of readily and happily creating and recalling such objects for the purpose of amusement, wit, or embellishment; imagination. In the soul Are many lesser faculties, that serve Reason as chief. Among these fancy next Her office holds. Milton.
2. An image or representation of anything formed in the mind; conception; thought; idea; conceit. How now, my lord ! why do you keep alone, Of sorriest fancies your companoins making Shak.
3. An opinion or notion formed without much reflection; caprice; whim; impression. I have always had a fancy that learning might be made a play and recreation to children. Locke.
4. Inclination; liking, formed by caprice rather than reason; as, to strike one's fancy; hence, the object of inclination or liking. To fit your fancies to your father's will. Shak.
3 more senses
5. That which pleases or entertains the taste or caprice without much use or value. London pride is a pretty fancy for borders. Mortimer.
6. A sort of love song or light impromptu ballad. [Obs.] Shak. The fancy, all of a class who exhibit and cultivate any peculiar taste or fancy; hence, especially, sporting characters taken collectively, or any specific class of them, as jockeys, gamblers, prize fighters, etc. At a great book sale in London, which had congregated all the fancy. De Quincey.
Syn. -- Imagination; conceit; taste; humor; inclination; whim; liking. See Imagination.
3 other Webster entries under this spelling
Fancy, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fancied, p. pr. & vb. n. Fancying (.]
1. To figure to one's self; to believe or imagine something without proof. If our search has reached no farther than simile and metaphor, we rather fancy than know. Locke.
2. To love. [Obs.] Shak.
Fancy, v. t.
1. To form a conception of; to portray in the mind; to imagine. He whom I fancy, but can ne'er express. Dryden.
2. To have a fancy for; to like; to be pleased with, particularly on account of external appearance or manners. "We fancy not the cardinal." Shak.
3. To believe without sufficient evidence; to imagine (something which is unreal). He fancied he was welcome, because those arounde him were his kinsmen. Thackeray.
Fancy, a.
1. Adapted to please the fancy or taste; ornamental; as, fancy goods.
2. Extravagant; above real value. This anxiety never degenerated into a monomania, like that which led his [Frederick the Great's] father to pay fancy prices for giants. Macaulay. Fancy ball, a ball in which porsons appear in fanciful dresses in imitation of the costumes of different persons and nations. -- Fancy fair, a fair at which articles of fancy and ornament are sold, generally for some charitable purpose. -- Fancy goods, fabrics of various colors, patterns, etc., as ribbons, silks, laces, etc., in distinction from those of a simple or plain color or make. -- Fancy line (Naut.), a line rove through a block at the jaws of a gaff; -- used to haul it down. Fancy roller (Carding Machine), a clothed cylinder (usually having straight teeth) in front of the doffer. -- Fancy stocks, a species of stocks which afford great opportunity for stock gambling, since they have no intrinsic value, and the fluctuations in their prices are artificial. -- Fancy store, one where articles of fancy and ornament are sold. -- Fancy woods, the more rare and expensive furniture woods, as mahogany, satinwood, rosewood, etc.
Shades of meaning
An intellectual fancy is a mental image or picture founded upon slight or whimsical association or resemblance; a conceit has less of the picturesque and more of the theoretic than a fancy; a conceit is somewhat aside from the common laws of reasoning, as a fancy is lighter and more airy than the common mode of thought. A conceit or fancy may be wholly unfounded, while a conception always has, or is believed to have, some answering reality. (Compare reason.) An intellectual fancy or conceit may be pleasing or amusing, but is never worth serious discussion; we speak of a mere fancy, a droll or odd conceit. An emotional or personal fancy is a capricious liking formed with slight reason and no exercise of judgment, and liable to fade as lightly as it was formed. In a broader sense, the fancy signifies the faculty by which fancies or mental images are formed, associated, or combined. Compare synonyms for dream; idea; imagination.
Prepositions
To have a fancy for or take a fancy to a person or thing.