fair

Etymology 1

From Middle English fayr, feir, fager, from Old English fæġer (“beautiful”), from Proto-West Germanic *fagr, from Proto-Germanic *fagraz (“suitable, fitting, nice”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“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”). See also peace.

adj

1. (archaic or literary) Beautiful, of a pleasing appearance, with a pure and fresh quality.
   Monday's child is fair of face.
   There was once a knight who wooed a fair young maid.
   1460-1500, The Towneley Playsː He is so fair, without lease, he seems full well to sit on this.
   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. 2010, Stephan Grundy, Beowulf (Fiction), iUniverse, page 33
2. Unblemished (figuratively or literally); clean and pure; innocent.
   one's fair name
   After scratching out and replacing various words in the manuscript, he scribed a fair copy to send to the publisher.
   The Table hauing at the Communion time a faire white linnen cloth vpon it, shall stand in the body of the Church, or in the Chancell, where Morning prayer and Euening prayer be appointed to be said. 1605, “The order for the administration of the Lords Supper, or holy Communion”, in The Booke of Common Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments, London: Robert Barker
   1665, Robert Hooke, Micrographia, London, Observation 21, “Of Moss, and several other small vegetative Substances,” p. 135, […] I have observ’d, that putting fair Water (whether Rain-water or Pump-water, or May-dew, or Snow-water, it was almost all one) I have often observ’d, I say, that this Water would, with a little standing, tarnish and cover all about the sides of the Glass that lay under water, with a lovely green […]
3. Light in color, pale, particularly with regard to skin tone but also referring to blond hair.
   She had fair hair and blue eyes.
   the northern people large and fair-complexioned 1677, Matthew Hale, The Primitive Origination of Mankind, Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature, page 200
4. Just, equitable.
   He must be given a fair trial.
5. Adequate, reasonable, or decent, but not excellent.
   Their performance has been only fair.
   The patient was in a fair condition after some treatment.
   My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price. 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 3, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
6. (nautical, of a wind) Favorable to a ship's course.
7. Not overcast; cloudless; clear; pleasant; propitious; said of the sky, weather, or wind, etc.
   a fair sky;  a fair day
   They had good weather and tolerably fair winds, and before they entered the Straits of Magellan the captain had formulated a plan for the disposition of Garta. 1909, Frank R. Stockton, The adventures of Captain Horn, Chapter 42
8. Free from obstacles or hindrances; unobstructed; unencumbered; open; direct; said of a road, passage, etc.
   a fair mark;  in fair sight;  a fair view
9. (shipbuilding) Without sudden change of direction or curvature; smooth; flowing; said of the figure of a vessel, and of surfaces, water lines, and other lines.
10. (baseball) Between the baselines.
11. (rugby, of a catch) Taken direct from an opponent's foot, without the ball touching the ground or another player.
12. (cricket, of a ball delivered by the bowler) Not a no ball.
13. (statistics) Of a coin or die, having equal chance of landing on any side, unbiased.

noun

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.
   Love and Hymen, hand in hand, Come, restore the nuptial band! And sincere delights prepare To crown the hero and the fair. 1744, Georg Friedrich Händel, Hercules, act 2, scene 8
3. (obsolete) Fairness, beauty.
4. A fair woman; a sweetheart.
   I have found out a gift for my fair. 1743, William Shenstone, A Pastoral Ballad
5. (obsolete) Good fortune; good luck.

verb

1. (transitive) To smoothen or even a surface (especially a connection or junction on a surface).
2. (transitive) To bring into perfect alignment (especially about rivet holes when connecting structural members).
3. (transitive, art) To make an animation smooth, removing any jerkiness.
   Since the sequence of data contain sampling noises, the captured motion is not smooth and wiggles along the moving path. There are well-known fairing algorithms in Euclidean space based on difference geometry. 1996, Computer Animation '96: June 3-4, 1996, Geneva, Switzerland, page 136
4. (transitive) To construct or design with the aim of producing a smooth outline or reducing air drag or water resistance.
   Two forward cars were provided with the model. One of these (shown detached in Fig. 1) was faired at its after end, with a view to possible reduction of head resistance, and to induce a better flow of air to the propeller. 1920, Technical Report of the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, page 206
5. (transitive, obsolete) To make fair or beautiful.

adv

1. clearly, openly, frankly, civilly, honestly, favorably, auspiciously, agreeably

Etymology 2

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

noun

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, a trade fair.
4. A travelling amusement park (called a funfair in British English and a (travelling) carnival in US English).