fantastic English · revision 3834

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1385|origins=grc φαντάζω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fænˈtæs.tɪk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|fantastik]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|fantastique]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la-med|fantasticus]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from Late Latin [[m|la-lat|phantasticus|t=imaginary]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[grc|φανταστικός|tr=phantastikós|t=able to imagine]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|grc|φαντάζω|tr=phantázō|t=to make visible]], middle voice phantázesthai “to picture to oneself, imagine”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[m|grc|φαίνω|tr=phaínō|t=to show]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) It is related to [[fantasy]], [[fancy]], [[phantasm]] and [[phantom]].^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Of the faculty of fantasy or imagination: about 1385, in Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales'',^(Barnhart 1988) and “imaginary, unreal” before 1387, in Trevisa.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) Etymonline dates it to the late 14th century, existing only in the imagination.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “Imaginative” is from the 15th century,^(Hoad 1986) and “fanciful, impulsive, capricious”, also foppish in dress, from 1488.^(OED 1989) “Extravagantly fanciful” is from the 16th century,^(Hoad 1986) and the spelling with ph- was frequent in the 17th and 18th centuries.^(Hoad 1986) Shakespeare and his contemporaries also had the noun fantastic, from Italian fantastico “one who acts ridiculously”.^(Etymonline) ''To trip the light fantastic'', to dance, goes back to Milton's ''L'Allegro'' (1645), “on the light fantastic toe”.^(Cresswell 2021) The trivial sense “wonderful, marvellous” is from 1938^(Etymonline) or the 1930s.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1385 – of the imagination, in Chaucer.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1387 – imaginary, unreal.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1488 – capricious.^(OED 1989)

+ * 16th century – extravagantly fanciful.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * 1645 – ''light fantastic'', in Milton.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1930s – wonderful, excellent.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(informal)'' Wonderful; superb.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Extremely large or great: ''a fantastic sum''.^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Strange or [[bizarre]] in form or appearance.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Based on or existing only in [[fantasy]]; unreal.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Extravagantly fanciful; not practical.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(archaic)'' An [[eccentric]] person.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fantasticality]]

+ * [[fantastically]]

+ * [[fantasticalness]]

+ * [[fantabulous]]

+ * [[fantasticate]]

+ * [[superfantastic]]

+ * [[unfantastic]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fantasy]]

+ * [[fantasise]]

+ * [[fantasize]]

+ * [[fancy]]

+ * [[phantasm]]

+ * [[phantom]]

+ * [[fantastical]]

+ * [[phenomenon]]

+ * [[emphasis]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary compares fantastic, which describes what seems hardly related to the real world, with [[bizarre]], [[grotesque]], [[fanciful]] and [[exotic]].^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}