fair

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Treating everyone equally and according to the rules.

   The teacher tried to be fair to all the students.

2. 2
   adj

   Quite good but not very good; reasonable.

   She has a fair chance of winning the prize.

3. 3
   adj

   (of hair or skin) Light or pale in color.

   The child had fair hair and a pale complexion.

4. 4
   noun

   A public event with rides, games, and things to buy, often outdoors.

   We had so much fun at the county fair.

5. 5
   adj

   (of weather) Clear and pleasant, without rain.

   Today will be fair and warm.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Fair is recorded in Old English meaning “pleasing” or “attractive”; its sense “blond” may also go back to Old English. The sense “neat and legible,” applied to handwriting, arose in the early 17th century and produced fair copy. The noun for a market or amusement event is unrelated: it came through Old French from Latin feria, “holy day,” because such gatherings were often held on religious holidays.

From Middle English fayr, feir, fager, from Old English fæġer (“beautiful”), from Proto-West Germanic *fagr, from Proto-Germanic *fagraz (“suitable, fitting, nice”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“to fasten, place”). Cognate with Scots fayr, fare (“fair”), Danish feir, faver, fager (“fair, pretty”), Norwegian fager (“fair, pretty”), Swedish fager (“fair, pretty”), Icelandic fagur (“beautiful, fair”), Umbrian pacer (“gracious, merciful, kind”), Slovak pekný (“good-looking, handsome, nice”). See also peace.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary