Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A new fancy; a novelty; a fancy.
  • noun A large, irregular bundle of straw tied together at intervals, and serving as a torch.
  • To trifle.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To fashion.
  • noun Something new-fashioned; a foolish innovation; a gewgaw; a trifling ornament.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun obsolete A prop; a taking up; a new thing.
  • noun Something newly fashioned; a novelty, a new fancy.
  • noun A foolish innovation; a gewgaw; a trifling ornament.
  • noun A conceit; whim.
  • verb To fashion, manufacture, invent, or create.
  • verb To trim showily; entangle; hang about.
  • verb To waste time; trifle.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English fangelen (v), from fangel ("inclined to take", adjective), from Old English *fangol, *fangel ("inclined to take"), from fōn ("to take, seize"). Compare Old English andfangol ("undertaker, contractor"), Old English underfangelnes ("undertaking, hospitality"), Middle English fangen ("to take, seize, catch"). More at fang, onfang.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Derived erroneously from new-fangle (adjective) as if new + fangle (noun). See newfangle.

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