tooth fairy

See also: Tooth Fairy

English

WOTD – 20 March 2022

Pronunciation

A token depicting the tooth fairy.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtuːθ ˌfɛə̯ɹi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtuθ ˌfɛə̯ɹi/, /-ˌfɛɹi/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: tooth fai‧ry

Noun

tooth fairy (plural tooth fairies)

1. A figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money (or sometimes a present) in exchange for a milk tooth when it falls out of a child's mouth.

   Anna was concerned that telling her child about the tooth fairy, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny would cause him to believe his mother was a liar later in life.

Alternative forms

• Tooth Fairy

Derived terms

• atoothfairyist (humorous, rare)
• Tooth Fairy science

Translations

figure of modern myth said to give children a small amount of money in exchange for a milk tooth

• Afrikaans: tandemuis
• Arabic: جِنِّيّ أَسْنَان (jinniyy ʔasnān)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Basque: Maritxu Teilatuko, Maritxu Telletuko
• Belarusian: зубная фея f (zubnaja fjeja)
• Bulgarian: феята на зъбките (fejata na zǎbkite)
• Catalan: angelet de les dents m, angelets m pl (literally “little angels”)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 牙仙 (yáxiān)

• Danish: tandfe c
• Dutch: tandenfee (nl) f
• Finnish: hammaskeiju (fi)
• French: fée des dents (fr) f, petite souris (fr) f (literally “little mouse”)
• German: Zahnfee (de) f
• Hebrew: פיית השיניים (feyát hashináyim)
• Hungarian: fogtündér (hu)
• Ido: dentofeo
• Indonesian: peri gigi
• Italian: acchiappadenti m, fatina dei denti f, topolino (it) m (literally “little mouse”)
• Japanese: 歯の妖精 (しのようせい, shinoyōsei)
• Korean: 이의 요정 (iui yojeong)
• Macedonian: забна самовила f (zabna samovila)
• Malay: pari-pari gigi
• Mon: ဒေဝတဴၚေက် (dewataoṅek)
• Mongolian: шүдний дагина (šüdnii dagina)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: tannfe m

  Nynorsk: tannfe f

• Persian: پری دندان (pari-ye dandân)
• Polish: zębowa wróżka (pl) f
• Portuguese: fada dos dentes f
• Russian: зубная фе́я (zubnaja féja)
• Spanish: hada de los dientes f, ratoncito Pérez m (literally “little mouse Pérez”), ratón Pérez m
• Swedish: tandfe (sv) c
• Thai: ทูธแฟรี
• Turkish: diş perisi
• Ukrainian: зубна фея f (zubna feja)

Further reading

• tooth fairy on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “tooth fairy, n.” under “tooth, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2021.
• “tooth fairy, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.