Other forms: fairs, fairest, fairer
Fair means treating everyone by the same rules, without favouring anybody. A fair decision, a fair share, that is not fair. It is one of the first moral words English speakers learn, usually while complaining.
The same spelling covers a surprising number of unrelated things. Fair hair and fair skin mean light-coloured. Fair weather means dry and bright. A fair is a travelling funfair or a trade fair. And fair as a quantity means reasonable but not great — a fair amount, a fair chance — which sits oddly beside fair meaning just. Note the useful pair fair enough, meaning I accept that, and to be fair, which introduces a point in someone else's favour.
1adjectivefairTreating everyone equally and by the rules.~5%
“It is not a fair test if half of them have seen the questions.”
synonyms: just, even-handed
2adjectivereasonableReasonable in amount, though not large.~4%
“There is a fair chance of rain.”
3adjectivelightLight in colour, said of hair or skin.~4%
“Both children are fair, like their father.”
4nounoutdoorAn outdoor event with rides and stalls, or a large trade exhibition.~85%
“The fair comes to the common every August.”
5adjectiveweatherOf weather, dry and bright.~2%
“Fair for most of the week, turning wet on Sunday.”
Shares are an estimate: a language model read 23 sentences found in the wild and placed 22 of them on a sense (1 were unclear) — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.
fair is a quality of justice.
Also accepted in games: just
Old English faeger meant beautiful, and that is the oldest sense — still visible in fair hair and in the fairest of them all. The sense of just came much later, from the idea of a decision that is clean and without blemish. Fair play, fair hair and a fair complexion all descend from beauty, not from justice.
Proto-Indo-European
*peh₂ḱ- — to attach, join; agreement, settlement
Proto-Germanic
*fagraz — appropriate, fitting, nice, suitable
Proto-West Germanic
*fagr
Old English
fæġer — beautiful
Middle English
fayr
English, today
fair
From Middle English fayr, from Old English fæġer (“beautiful”), from Proto-West Germanic fagr, from Proto-Germanic fagraz (“appropriate, fitting, nice, suitable”), from Proto-Indo-European peh₂ḱ- (“to attach, join; agreement, settlement”). 2 Cognate with Old High German and Old Saxon fagar (“beautiful, fair”), Danish fager, favr (“fair, pretty, wonderful”), Faroese and Icelandic fagur (“beautiful, fair”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish fager (“fair, pretty”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌲𐍂𐍃 (“fair, proper”), Estonian vapper (“brave, courageous”), Finnish vauras (“substantial, wealthy”); also Latin pāx (“peace; ease, quiet, rest”), xum pase (“peace”), be пе́кны (“beautiful”), Czech pěkný (“nice; pretty”), Polish piekny, piękny (“beautiful; admirable, praiseworthy”), Slovak pekný (“nice; pretty”), Sanskrit पाश॑ (“bond, cord, noose; nature, outer world; border, edge, selvage”). See also peace.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA