# fantasy

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈfæntəsi/ · frequency rank #2,894

## Definitions
1. That which comes from one's imagination.
2. The literary genre generally dealing with themes of magic and the supernatural, imaginary worlds and creatures, etc.
3. A fantastical design.
4. The drug gamma-hydroxybutyric acid.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **fanbase** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fanbase-vs-fantasy)
- **fantasia** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fantasia-vs-fantasy)

## Common misspellings (11)
`afntasy`, `fanatsy`, `fanntasy`, `fantassy`, `fantasyy`, `fantays`, `fantsay`, `fanttasy`, `fatnasy`, `ffantasy`, `fnatasy`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/fantasy