fare

SayFAIR/fɛɚ/UK/fɛə/

Pluralfares

Verbfares, faring, fared

8 meanings of fare

Practice

1
ticket pricenouncountable
The money paid to travel on a bus, train, taxi, or other transport.
Passengers complained when the city raised the subway fare again.
She paid the cab fare and added a generous tip.
UsageSpelled fare in bus fare, taxi fare, airfare (not ~~incorrect: bus fair~~); you pay the fare.
Similarfee, charge, price, cost
2
succeed or failverbintransitive
To get on or turn out in a particular way, well or badly, in a situation or course of events.
How will the new employees fare in such a demanding role?
The team fared surprisingly well against stronger opponents.
UsageUsually with an adverb: fare well, fare badly, fared better than expected. A question can stand alone: How did you fare?
Similardo, manage, cope, perform
3
foodnoununcountable
Food and drink of a particular kind, or more broadly the kind of thing offered for people to consume or enjoy, such as television or film.
The inn was known for its hearty country fare.
Vegetarian fare has become standard on most airline menus.
UsageUsually with an adjective: simple fare, hearty country fare, vegetarian fare.
Similarfood, cuisine
4
taxi passengernouncountable
A passenger who pays for the ride, especially in a taxi.
The taxi driver waited for his last fare of the night.
Two fares were waiting at the taxi stand when the cab pulled up.
Similarpassenger, customer, rider, client

Less common meanings

5
journeyverbarchaicintransitive
To travel, go on a journey, or move onward.
I know that this was Life,—the track ⁠Whereon with equal feet we fared; ⁠And then, as now, the day prepared The daily burden for the back.
1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam
Behold! A knight fares forth.
Note
Archaic now, and most at home in romance and verse. A knight fares forth, and Tennyson's In Memoriam (1850) still walks the track "whereon with equal feet we fared."
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Alfred Tennyson wrote In Memoriam, first published in 1850. en.wikisource.org
In Memoriam contains the quoted words describing a track: “whereon with equal feet we fared.” gutenberg.org
6
eatverbarchaicintransitive
To eat; to take a meal.
Pilgrims fare on whatever the abbey can spare.
The travelers fared richly at the king's table.
Note
The King James Bible of 1611 gives this sense its best-known line: the rich man who "fared sumptuously every day." Today it reads as archaic or knowingly biblical.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The King James Bible was first published in 1611. en.wikisource.org
The King James Bible describes a rich man as having 'fared sumptuously every day', in Luke 16:19. en.wikisource.org
7
nounslangUKcountable
A paying client of a prostitute.
Standing on the corner, the young prostitute refused to get into the car with the aggressive fare.
Working girls on that corner screened every fare carefully.
Similarjohn, punter, trick, client
Note
British criminal slang, most likely borrowed from the cab rank. The client is picked up and pays, just like a taxi's paying passenger. Because the two senses share a form, context does all the work. Outside talk about the street trade, a listener will hear the innocent taxi meaning.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The prostitute-client sense is British criminal slang. en.wiktionary.org
Fare can mean a taxi's paying passenger. en.wiktionary.org
8
nounobsoletecountable or uncountable
A journey, voyage, or course of travel.
Similarjourney, trip, voyage, passage
Note
The noun's original meaning, now obsolete. Middle English fare merges two Old English words: fær ("journey, road") and faru ("journey, companions, baggage"). Both go back to a root meaning "a going, passage." That same root lies behind the verb, so the archaic verb of travel is its close cousin. Readers meet this noun only in older texts.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
Journey or passage is the noun's original meaning, now obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
Middle English fare merges Old English fær and faru, with the stated meanings. en.wiktionary.org
Both Old English nouns ultimately derive from the root *per-, meaning going or passage. en.wiktionary.org
The verb fare shares that root with the nouns. en.wiktionary.org

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of fare apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1, 3–4, 7–8

Proto-Indo-European *per- ("a going, passage") led to Proto-Germanic *farą and *farō. Old English then had fær, meaning "journey, road," and faru, meaning "journey, companions, baggage," and these two merged into Middle English fare.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

Proto-Indo-European *per- is glossed as going or passage. en.wiktionary.org
Proto-Germanic *farą derives from Proto-Indo-European *per-. en.wiktionary.org
Proto-Germanic *farō also ultimately derives from Proto-Indo-European *per-, through *faraną. en.wiktionary.org
Old English fær and faru, with the stated meanings, merged into Middle English fare. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 2, 5–6

Proto-Indo-European *per- ("a going, passage") developed into Proto-Germanic *faraną and Proto-West Germanic *faran, then Old English faran ("to travel, journey") and Middle English faren. Related words include German fahren ("to travel"), Dutch varen ("to sail"), and Swedish fara ("to travel").

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

Proto-Germanic *faraną derives from Proto-Indo-European *per-, meaning 'going, passage'. en.wiktionary.org
Proto-West Germanic *faran derives from Proto-Germanic *faraną. en.wiktionary.org
Old English faran derives from Proto-West Germanic *faran and means 'to travel, journey'. en.wiktionary.org
Middle English faren derives from Old English faran. en.wiktionary.org
German fahren, Dutch varen, and Swedish fara are cognates, with the stated meanings. en.wiktionary.org