English
fantasy
Fantasy comes from Old French fantasie, from Latin phantasia, from Ancient Greek φαντασία ‘apparition’, from φαντάζω ‘to make visible’, ultimately from φαίνω ‘to show’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeh₂-‘to shine’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰh₂nyétireconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*pʰáňňō‘to appear’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφαίνωphaínō‘to make visible’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEφαντός‘visible’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEφαντάζωphantázō‘to render visible’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEφᾰ́ντᾰσῐςphắntăsĭs
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEφαντασίαphantasía‘apparition’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEphantasia‘imagination’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400fantasie
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fantasie‘the faculty of imagination’
- Englishearliest quotation 1551fantasy
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeh₂-‘to shine’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰh₂nyétireconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*pʰáňňō‘to appear’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEφαίνωphaínō‘to make visible’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEφαντός‘visible’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEφαντάζωphantázō‘to render visible’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEφᾰ́ντᾰσῐςphắntăsĭs
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEφαντασίαphantasía‘apparition’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEphantasia‘imagination’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400fantasie
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fantasie‘the faculty of imagination’
- Englishearliest quotation 1551fantasy
Earliest quotation: 1551, Thomas More, (please specify the Internet Archive page): “Which he doth most fantasy.”
The story
Noun inherited from Middle English fantasie, from Old French fantasie (‘fantasy’), from Latin phantasia (‘imagination’), from Ancient Greek φαντασία (phantasía, “apparition”), from φαντάζω (phantázō, “to render visible”), from φαντός (phantós, “visible”), from φαίνω (phaínō, “to make visible”); from the same root as φάος (pháos, “light”); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂nyéti, from the root *bʰeh₂- (‘to shine’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to shine, glow light’
phone, focus, professor, fuel, ben, famous, favourite, favor, photographer, ban, profession, fate, bee, fame, fabulous, confession, fairy, abandon, confess, beacon, beck, fatal, symphony, boon, eff, infant, prophetic, fab, foyer, buoy, bane, fay, profess, fable, bene, banish, nefarious, infamy, banal, cacophony, 117 more
through Proto-Hellenic *pʰáňňō ‘to make appear’
through Ancient Greek φαίνω ‘to make visible’
phenomenon, emphasis, epiphany, phenomenology, phenol, phenom, tryptophan, 43 more
through Ancient Greek φᾰντός ‘visible’
through Old French fantasie
Today it means
noun That which comes from one's imagination or the act of imagining things.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- / fantasy