fairness

C1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈfɛɚ.nəs/ UK /ˈfɛə.nəs/ See IPA manual

noun Freq #13679

Meanings

1

noun
The quality of treating people equally and according to the rules.

Some people questioned the fairness of the new tax laws.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the quality of treating... equityfair-mindedness

Word family

Derived forms unfairness

Etymology

From Middle English fairness, fæȝernesse, from Old English fæġernes (“fairness; beauty; pleasantness”), equivalent to fair + -ness. Cognate with Old High German fagarnessi (“fairness”).

fairness Middle English fæġernes Old English

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People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

# fairness

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈfɛɚ.nəs
**IPA (UK):** ˈfɛə.nəs
**Frequency rank:** 13679

## Meanings
1. The quality of treating people equally and according to the rules.

## Examples
- Some people questioned the fairness of the new tax laws.

## Derived Forms
- unfairness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: fairness
- Root: fæġernes

## Etymology
From Middle English fairness, fæȝernesse, from Old English fæġernes (“fairness; beauty; pleasantness”), equivalent to fair + -ness. Cognate with Old High German fagarnessi (“fairness”).

## AI Etymology
Fairness comes from Middle English fairness, fæȝernesse, from Old English fæġernes (“fairness; beauty; pleasantness”), equivalent to fair + -ness. Cognate with Old High German fagarnessi (“fairness”). The historical chain includes fairness (Middle English) and fæġernes (Old English). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as unfairness. In present use it covers the quality of treating people equally and according to the rules.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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fairness

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