WordofTheDay.US

pixie

/ˈpɪksi/ noun

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about pixie at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. (folklore) fairies that are somewhat mischievous.
  2. Creeping evergreen shrub having narrow overlapping leaves and early white star-shaped flowers; of the pine barrens of New Jersey and the Carolinas.

Origin

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