- For an alternate meaning, see Fan (implement).
The term fan refers to someone who has an intense, occasionally overwhelming liking of a person, group of persons, work of art, idea, or trend. The word is an Americanism of around 1889, a shortened version of the word fanatic in reference to an enthusiastic follower of a baseball team. (Fanatic itself is an invention of around 1525, meaning "insane person". It comes from the Modern Latin fanaticus, meaning "insanely but divinely inspired". The word originally pertained to a temple or sacred place. The modern sense of "extremely zealous" dates from around 1647; the use of "fanatic" as a noun dates from 1650.) Although modern "fans" sometimes display irrational or uncritical admiration, most resent being associated with the more extreme term fanatic.
In trendy speech, collectively fans may coalesce into fandom and even be known as a "fanbase". They may start a fan club, particularly when they are fans of music artists, actors, or television shows. Non-sports fans sometimes self-identify collectively as fen (a neologism).
When expressing interest in an organized or consistent manner, fans can sometimes affect change, such as preventing a TV show from being canceled.
In a few cases, individual fans may become so obsessed with the (presumably human) objects of their infatuation that they become stalkers.
Reference
- Online Etymology Dictionary (http://www.etymonline.com/f1etym.htm)
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