fairness

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
fair1

▶adjective

• 1 treating people equally.

  ■ just or appropriate in the circumstances.

• 2 (of hair or complexion) light; blonde.

• 3 considerable in size or amount.

  ■ moderately good.

  ■ Austral./NZ informal complete.

• 4 (of weather) fine and dry.

• 5 archaic beautiful.

▶adverb

• 1 in a fair manner.

• 2 dialect to a high degree.

▶noun archaic a beautiful woman. ▶verb dialect (of the weather) become fine.

– phrases
fair and square

• 1 with absolute accuracy.

• 2 honestly and straightforwardly.

fair dinkum see dinkum.
fair dos Brit. informal a request for just treatment or an acceptance that it has been given.
fair game a person or thing that is considered a reasonable target for criticism or exploitation.
the fair sex (also the fairer sex) dated or humorous women.
fair's fair informal a request for just treatment or an assertion that an arrangement is just.
for fair US informal completely and finally.
in a fair way to likely to.
it's a fair cop Brit. informal an admission that the speaker has been caught doing wrong and deserves punishment.

– derivatives
fairish adjective,
fairness noun.

– origin OE fæger ‘pleasing, attractive’, of Gmc origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
fair2

▶noun

• 1 a gathering of stalls and amusements for public entertainment.

• 2 a periodic gathering for the sale of goods.

  ■ an exhibition to promote particular products.

  ■ N. Amer. an annual competitive exhibition of livestock, agricultural products, etc., held in a rural area.

– origin ME: from OFr. feire, from late L. feria, sing. of L. feriae ‘holy days’ (on which fairs were often held).

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
fair3

▶verb (usu. as adj. faired) streamline (a vehicle, boat, or aircraft) by adding fairings.

– origin OE in the senses ‘beautify’ and ‘appear or become clean’.