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fair¹

(fâr)

adj. fair·er, fair·est

1. Of pleasing appearance, especially because of a pure or fresh quality; comely.

a. Light in color, especially blond: fair hair.

b. Of light complexion: fair skin.

3. Free of clouds or storms; clear and sunny: fair skies.

4. Free of blemishes or stains; clean and pure: one's fair name.

5. Promising; likely: We're in a fair way to succeed.

a. Having or exhibiting a disposition that is free of favoritism or bias; impartial: a fair mediator.

b. Just to all parties; equitable: a compromise that is fair to both factions.

7. Being in accordance with relative merit or significance: She wanted to receive her fair share of the proceeds.

8. Consistent with rules, logic, or ethics: a fair tactic.

9. Moderately good; acceptable or satisfactory: gave only a fair performance of the play; in fair health.

10. Superficially true or appealing; specious: Don't trust his fair promises.

11. Lawful to hunt or attack: fair game.

12. Archaic Free of all obstacles.

adv.

1. In a proper or legal manner: playing fair.

2. Directly; straight: a blow caught fair in the stomach.

tr.v. faired, fair·ing, fairs

To join (pieces) so as to be smooth, even, or regular: faired the aircraft's wing into the fuselage.

1. Archaic A beautiful or beloved woman.

2. Obsolete Loveliness; beauty.

Phrasal Verb:

fair off (or up)

Chiefly Southern US To become clear. Used of weather.

Idioms:

fair and square

Just and honest.

for fair

To the greatest or fullest extent possible: Our team was beaten for fair in that tournament.

no fair

Something contrary to the rules: That was no fair.

[Middle English, from Old English fæger, lovely, pleasant.]

fairness n.

Synonyms: fair¹, just¹, equitable, impartial, unprejudiced, unbiased, objective
These adjectives mean free from favoritism, self-interest, or preference in judgment. Fair is the most general: a fair referee; a fair deal. Just stresses conformity with what is legally or ethically right or proper: "a just and lasting peace" (Abraham Lincoln).
Equitable implies justice dictated by reason, conscience, and a natural sense of what is fair: an equitable distribution of gifts among the children. Impartial emphasizes lack of favoritism: "the cold neutrality of an impartial judge" (Edmund Burke).
Unprejudiced means without preconceived opinions or judgments: an unprejudiced evaluation of the proposal. Unbiased implies absence of a preference or partiality: gave an unbiased account of her family problems. Objective implies detachment that permits impersonal observation and judgment: an objective jury. See Also Synonyms at average, beautiful.

Our Living Language American folk speech puts Standard English to shame in its wealth of words for describing weather conditions. When the weather goes from fair to cloudy, New Englanders say that it's "breedin' up a storm" (Maine informant in the Linguistic Atlas of New England). If the weather is clear, however, a New Englander might call it open. Southern fair off and fair up, meaning "to become clear," were originally Northeastern terms and were brought to the South as settlement expanded southward and westward. They are now "regionalized to the South," according to Craig M. Carver, author of American Regional Dialects. These phrases may have prompted the coining of milding and milding down, noted respectively in Texas and Virginia by the Dictionary of American Regional English.

fair²

(fâr)

1. A gathering for the buying and selling of goods, often held at a particular time and place; a market: We attended the annual book fair.

2. An exhibition of home or farm products and skills, usually with competitions and entertainments: My pumpkin won first prize at the county fair.

3. An exhibition intended to inform people about a product or business opportunity: a computer fair; a job fair.

4. An event, usually for the benefit of a charity or public institution, including entertainment and the sale of goods; a bazaar: a church fair.

[Middle English faire, from Old French feire, from Late Latin fēria, sing. of Latin fēriae, holidays; see dhēs- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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