pixie
/ˈpɪksi/ noun, proper noun
Forms pixies pigsie piskie pisky pixy
- noun (mythology, fantasy literature, fairy tales) A playful sprite or elflike or fairy-like creature.
- noun (slang) A cute, petite woman with short hair.
- noun (astronomy, meteorology) An upper-atmospheric optical phenomenon associated with thunderstorms, a short-lasting pinpoint of light on the surface of convective domes that produces a gnome.
- noun A butterfly of the genus Melanis.
- proper noun A female nickname, also used as a formal given name.
- proper noun (informal, aviation, travel) Air Niugini
Synonyms
brownie fair gnome imp sprite elf hob gremlin pixy pyxie Pyxidanthera barbulata
Etymology
Uncertain; 17thC, originally in the folklore of southwest England; perhaps diminutive of dialectal Swedish pysk (“fairy”), though the transmission of a Swedish dialect term to southwest Britain is unexplained; perhaps Puck (“Robin Goodfellow”) + -sy; see Wikipedia.
From pixie.
From its IATA code of PX.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An old English name for a fairy; an elf. [Written also picksy.]
- noun A low creeping evergreen plant (Pyxidanthera barbulata), with mosslike leaves and little white blossoms, found in New Jersey and southward, where it flowers in earliest spring. Pixy ring, a fairy ring or circle. [Prov. Eng.] -- Pixy stool (Bot.), a toadstool or mushroom. [Prov. Eng.]
Etymology [For Pucksy, from Puck.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pixie”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details