Skip to the word

Added 29 September 2026

fantasy

/ˈfæntəsi/ noun

In Latin: somnium Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about fantasy at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

That which comes from one's imagination or the act of imagining things.
The literary genre generally dealing with themes of magic and the supernatural, imaginary worlds and creatures, etc.
A fantastical design.

verb

To conceive (something) mentally; to imagine. To fantasize about (something).
To conceive (something) mentally; to imagine.
To fantasize about (something).

Origin

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”). Doublet of fancy, fantasia, phantasia, and phantasy. Verb from Middle English fantasien, from Old French fantasier. Doublet of fancy.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word