Fancy | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Făn'cy, n.

noun

n. [Contracted from fantasy, Fr. fantasie, Pr. fantasia, fantisa, Sp., Pg., & It. fantasia, Lat. phantasia, Gr. φαντασία, a making visible, the power of perception and presentation in the mind, from φαντάζειν, to make visible, to place before one's mind, from φαίνειν, to bring to light.]

The faculty by which the mind forms an image or a representation of any thing perceived before; the power of combining and modifying such objects into new notions or images; the power of readily and happily creating and recalling such objects for the purpose of amusement, wit, or embellishment.
An image or representation of any thing formed in the mind; conception.

How now, my lord! why do you keep alone, Of sorriest fancies your companions 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. 5. That which pleases or entertains the taste or caprice without much use or value. London-pride is a pretty fancy for borders. Mortimer. The fancy, those who exhibit some special or peculiar taste or fancy, as for sporting, boxing, and the like;—used collectively. Knightley. 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.

Făn'cy, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. [imp. & p. p. FANCIED; p. pr. & vb. n. FANCYING.] To figure to one's self; to believe or suppose without proof; to imagine.

If our search has reached no farther than simile and metaphor, we rather fancy than know. Locke.

Făn'cy, v. t.

verbtransitive

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 be pleased with, particularly on account of external appearance or manners. “We fancy not the cardinal.” Shak.

Făn'cy, a.

adjective

a. Adapted to please the fancy or taste.

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 persons appear in fancy dresses.—Fancy goods, fabrics of various colors, patterns, &c., as ribbons, silks, satins, and the like, in distinction from those of a simple or plain color.—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 chiefly artificial. [U. S.]—Fancy store, one where articles of fancy and ornament are sold.