fair

fair · adjective, noun, verb, adverb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*peh₂ḱ-“to attach, join; agreement, settlement”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*fagraz“appropriate, fitting, nice, suitable”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*fagr
4. Old English · inherited fromfæġer“beautiful”
5. Middle English · inherited fromfayr
6. English todayfair

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”). Cognates 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 (fagrs, “fair, proper”), Estonian vapper (“brave, courageous”), Finnish vauras (“substantial, wealthy”); also Latin pāx (“peace; ease, quiet, rest”), Umbrian pase (“peace”), Belarusian пе́кны (pjékny, “beautiful”), Czech pěkný (“nice; pretty”), Polish piekny, piękny (“beautiful; admirable, praiseworthy”), Slovak pekný (“nice; pretty”), Sanskrit पाश॑ (pā́śa, “bond, cord, noose; nature, outer world; border, edge, selvage”). See also peace.

fair · noun²

1. Latin · derived fromfēriae
2. Old French · derived fromfoire
3. Middle English · inherited fromfeyre
4. English todayfair

From Middle English feyre, from Old French foire, from Latin fēriae.

Words from the same roots