fare

Etymology 1

From Middle English fare, from the merger of Old English fær (“journey, road”) and faru (“journey, companions, baggage”), from Proto-Germanic *farą and *farō (“journey, fare”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“a going, passage”).

noun

1. (obsolete) A going; journey; travel; voyage; course; passage.
2. (countable) Money paid for a transport ticket.
   train fare
   bus fare
   taxi fare
3. (countable) A paying passenger, especially in a taxi.
4. (uncountable) Food and drink.
5. (uncountable) Supplies for consumption or pleasure.
   The television channel tended to broadcast unremarkable downmarket fare.
6. (countable, UK, crime, slang) A prostitute's client.

Etymology 2

From Middle English faren, from Old English faran (“to travel, journey”), from Proto-West Germanic *faran, from Proto-Germanic *faraną, from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“a going, passage”). Cognate with West Frisian farre, Dutch varen (“to sail”), German fahren (“to travel”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål fare, Norwegian Nynorsk and Icelandic fara (“to go”) and Swedish fara (“to travel”).

verb

1. (intransitive, archaic) To go, travel.
   Behold! A knight fares forth.
   Then he came down rejoicing and said, "I have seen what seemeth to be a city as 'twere a pigeon." Hereat we rejoiced and, ere an hour of the day had passed, the buildings showed plain in the offing and we asked the Captain, "What is the name of yonder city?" and he answered "By Allah I wot not, for I never saw it before and never sailed these seas in my life: but, since our troubles have ended in safety, remains for you only to land their with your merchandise and, if you find selling profitable, sell and make your market of what is there; and if not, we will rest here two days and provision ourselves and fare away. 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 17
2. (intransitive) To get along, succeed (well or badly); to be in any state, or pass through any experience, good or bad; to be attended with any circumstances or train of events.
   So fares the stag among the enraged hounds. 1642, John Denham, Cooper's Hill
   Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found. 2013-07-19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34
   While long-distance and commuter rail travel still fared well, train travel to seaside resorts was perhaps inevitably falling away. March 8 2023, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wreccker?”, in RAIL, number 978, page 51
3. (intransitive, archaic) To eat, dine.
4. (intransitive, impersonal) To happen well, or ill.
   We shall see how it will fare with him.
   Let me only say that it fared with him as with the storm-tossed ship, that miserably drives along the leeward land. 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 23
5. (intransitive) To move along; proceed; progress; advance
   We will continue to monitor how the hurricane fares against projected models.
   He was a man of Spartan habits, and at sixty was scrupulous about his diet at your table, excusing himself by saying that he must eat sparingly and fare hard, as became a soldier or one who was fitting himself for difficult enterprises, a life of exposure. 1859, Henry David Thoreau, A Plea for Captain John Brown