fair

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to: navigation, search

Contents

English[edit]

Wikipedia has articles on:

Wikipedia

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English fayr, feir, fager, from Old English fæġer (“fair, lovely, beautiful; pleasant, agreeable; attractive”), from Proto-Germanic *fagraz (“suitable, fitting, nice”), from Proto-Indo-European *paḱ- (“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”).

Adjective[edit]

fair (comparative fairer, superlative fairest)

  1. (literary or archaic) Beautiful, of a pleasing appearance, with a pure and fresh quality.
    Monday's child is fair of face.
    There was once a knight wooed a fair young maid.
    1917, Edgar Rice Burroughs, A Princess of Mars[1], edition HTML, The Gutenberg Project, published 2008:
    "It was a purely scientific research party sent out by my father's father, the Jeddak of Helium, to rechart the air currents, and to take atmospheric density tests," replied the fair prisoner, in a low, well-modulated voice.
    2010, Stephan Grundy, Beowulf[2], Fiction, iUniverse, ISBN 9781440156977, page 33:
    And yet he was also, though many generations separated them, distant cousin to the shining eoten-main Geard, whom the god Frea Ing had seen from afar and wedded; and to Scatha, the fair daughter of the old thurse Theasa, who had claimed a husband from among the gods as weregild for her father's slaying: often, it was said, the ugliest eotens would sire the fairest maids.
  2. Unblemished (figuratively or literally); clean and pure; innocent.
    After scratching out and replacing various words in the manuscript, he scribed a fair copy to send to the publisher.
    one's fair name
  3. Light in color, pale, particularly as regards skin tone but also referring to blond hair.
    She had fair hair and blue eyes.
  4. Just, equitable.
    He must be given a fair trial.
  5. Adequate, reasonable, or decent.
    The patient was in a fair condition after some treatment.
  6. (nautical, of a wind) Favorable to a ship's course.
  7. (baseball) Between the baselines.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Terms derived from fair (adjective)
Translations[edit]
pretty or attractive
unblemished and innocent
light in color or pale
just, equitable
adequate, reasonable, decent
nautical: favorable to a ship's course
baseball: between the baselines

Noun[edit]

fair (plural fair)

  1. Something which is fair (in various senses of the adjective).
    When will we learn to distinguish between the fair and the foul?
  2. (obsolete) A woman, a member of the ‘fair sex’; also as a collective singular, women.
    • 1744, Georg Friedrich Händel, Hercules, act 2, scene 8
      Love and Hymen, hand in hand,
      Come, restore the nuptial band!
      And sincere delights prepare
      To crown the hero and the fair.
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, p. 39:
      In enjoying, therefore, such place of rendezvous, the British fair ought to esteem themselves more happy than any of their foreign sisters [...].
    • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, III.24:
      If single, probably his plighted Fair / Has in his absence wedded some rich miser [...].

Verb[edit]

fair (third-person singular simple present fairs, present participle fairing, simple past and past participle faired)

  1. To smoothen or even a surface (especially a connection or junction on a surface).
  2. To bring into perfect alignment (especially about rivet holes when connecting structural members).
  3. To construct or design a structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline or reduce air drag or water resistance.
  4. (obsolete) To make fair or beautiful.
    • Shakespeare
      Fairing the foul.
Synonyms[edit]
  • (to reduce air drag or water resistance): to streamline
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to smoothen a surface
to bring into perfect alignment
to producea smooth outline

Adverb[edit]

fair (comparative more fair, superlative most fair)

  1. Clearly; openly; frankly; civilly; honestly; favorably; auspiciously; agreeably.
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old French feire, from Latin fēriae.

Noun[edit]

fair (plural fairs)

  1. A community gathering to celebrate and exhibit local achievements.
  2. An event for public entertainment and trade, a market.
  3. An event for professionals in a trade to learn of new products and do business.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
celebration
market
professional event, trade fair
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Statistics[edit]

German[edit]

Adjective[edit]

fair

  1. just, equitable, adequate, honest, in good spirit
    ein faires Spiel
    Es ist nur fair, auch wenn alle gleich schlecht behandelt werden.

Antonyms[edit]

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Irish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA: [fˠaɾʲ]

Verb[edit]

fair (present analytic faireann, future analytic fairfidh, verbal noun faire, past participle fairthe)

  1. to watch

Conjugation[edit]

First Conjugation (A)
singular plural relative autonomous
first second third first second third
indicative present fairim faireann tú;
fairir†		 faireann sé, sí fairimid faireann sibh faireann siad;
fairid†		 a fhaireann;
a fhaireas		 fairtear
past d'fhair mé;
d'fhaireas		 d'fhair tú;
d'fhairis		 d'fhair sé, sí d'fhaireamar;
d'fhair muid		 d'fhair sibh;
d'fhaireabhair		 d'fhair siad;
d'fhaireadar		 a d'fhair faireadh
past habitual d'fhairinn d'fhairteá d'fhaireadh sé, sí d'fhairimis;
d'fhaireadh muid		 d'fhaireadh sibh d'fhairidís;
d'fhaireadh siad		 a d'fhaireadh d'fhairtí
future fairfidh mé;
fairfead		 fairfidh tú;
fairfir†		 fairfidh sé, sí fairfimid;
fairfidh muid		 fairfidh sibh fairfidh siad;
fairfid†		 a fhairfidh;
a fhairfeas		 fairfear
conditional d'fhairfinn d'fhairfeá d'fhairfeadh sé, sí d'fhairfimis;
d'fhairfeadh muid		 d'fhairfeadh sibh d'fhairfidís;
d'fhairfeadh siad		 a d'fhairfeadh d'fhairfí
subjunctive present go bhfaire mé;
go bhfairead†		 go bhfaire tú;
go bhfairir†		 go bhfaire sé, sí go bhfairimid;
go bhfaire muid		 go bhfaire sibh go bhfaire siad;
go bhfairid†		 — go bhfairtear
past dá bhfairinn dá bhfairteá dá bhfaireadh sé, sí dá bhfairimis;
dá bhfaireadh muid		 dá bhfaireadh sibh dá bhfairidís;
dá bhfaireadh siad		 — dá bhfairtí
imperative fairim fair faireadh sé, sí fairimis fairigí;
fairidh†		 fairidís — fairtear
verbal noun faire
past participle fairthe

† Dialect form

Mutation[edit]

Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
fair fhair bhfair
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.
Retrieved from "http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=fair&oldid=21006734"