fairy dart

noun

A prehistoric stone arrowhead; an elf arrow.

Meanings

nounfairy dart (plural fairy darts)

plural fairy darts

  1. archaeologyA prehistoric stone arrowhead; an elf arrow.

    The shape is believed to have been derived from its being originally the mounting of an elf-shot or fairy dart, i.e. flint arrowhead. An old man in Kincardineshire […]

    1969, Joseph Jacobs, Alfred Trübner Nutt, Arthur Robinson Wright, William Crooke, Folklore
    2 more examples

    Hence, by having a fairy dart in your possession, you can defy the fairies, or can even turn them from active enemies into powerful friends and personal patrons. This curious property makes the stone arrowhead a most valuable charm ...

    1886, Longman's Magazine, page 194

    Cattle are shot with stones and can only be cured by a "fairy dart" or ancient stone arrowhead. These objects are kept in numerous wrappings by every properly qualified "fairy doctor," who rub[s] them on the sick beasts with appropriate charms ...

    1918, Folklore Society (Great Britain), Publications

Synonyms & antonyms

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Cite this entry
APA

fairy dart. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fairy%20dart

MLA

“fairy dart.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fairy%20dart. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fairy dart,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fairy%20dart.

Source: fairy dart on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.