fare

[fair]

noun

1. the price of conveyance or passage in a bus, train, airplane, or other vehicle.

2. a person or persons who pay to be conveyed in a vehicle; paying passenger.

3. a person who hires a public vehicle and its driver.

4. food; diet.

   hearty fare.

5. something offered to the public, for entertainment, enjoyment, consumption, etc..

   literary fare.

6. Archaic.,  state of things.

verb (used without object)

fared, faring 

1. to experience good or bad fortune, treatment, etc.; get on.

   He fared well in his profession.

2. to go; turn out; happen (used impersonally).

   It fared ill with him.

3. to go; travel.

4. to eat and drink.

   They fared sumptuously.

fare

/ fɛə /

noun

1. the sum charged or paid for conveyance in a bus, train, aeroplane, etc

2. a paying passenger, esp when carried by taxi

3. a range of food and drink; diet

verb

1. to get on (as specified); manage

   he fared well

2. to turn out or happen as specified

   it fared badly with him

3. archaic,  to eat

   we fared sumptuously

4. archaic,  (often foll by forth) to go or travel

Other Word Forms

• farer noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of fare¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English faren, Old English faran; cognate with German fahren, Old Norse fara, Gothic faran; akin to emporium, port ⁵, pram ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of fare¹

Old English faran ; related to Old Norse fara to travel, Old High German faran to go, Greek poros ford

Synonym Study

See food.

Example Sentences

Hospital patients kept apart for infection control show more anxiety and depression and fare worse overall.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

We have taken a look at nine of them to see how they have fared - and want you to have your say.

Read more on BBC

The rise, over the past century, of industrialized supermarket fare and national fast-food chains has erased many of these local food customs.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“Of course, we’ll have to see how the U.S. jobs data has been faring over the last four to six weeks once the government shutdown ends.”

Read more on Barron's

There is one tool that may give you an idea of how airports are faring, at least day by day: FlightAware’s MiseryMap, which tracks delays and cancelations at airports across the U.S.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

• expense 
• price 
• tariff 
• ticket 
• toll