n.
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural fancies
Etymology: Middle English fantasie, fantsy imagination, image, illusion, preference, from Anglo-French fantasie illusion, from Latin phantasia, from Greek, appearance, imagination, from phantazein to present to the mind (middle voice, to imagine), from phainein to show; akin to Old English ge b ō n ed polished, Greek ph ō s light
Date: 15th century
1 a : a liking formed by caprice rather than reason : INCLINATION <took a fancy to the mutt> b : amorous fondness : LOVE
2 a : NOTION , WHIM b : an image or representation of something formed in the mind
3 archaic : fantastic quality or state
4 a : imagination especially of a capricious or delusive sort b : the power of conception and representation used in artistic expression (as by a poet)
5 : TASTE , JUDGMENT
6 a : devotees of some particular art, practice, or amusement b : the object of interest of such a fancy especially : 1 BOXING