English word origin

Etymology of fare

From Middle English fare, from a 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, pas

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗

noun

A going; journey; travel; voyage; course; passage. · Money paid for a transport ticket. · A paying passenger, especially in a taxi. · Food and drink.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Root classification mention*per- (fare)ine-pro
Inherited-form mentionfareenm
Derivation mentionfærang · journey, road
Derivation mention*farągem-pro
Derivation mention*per-ine-pro · a going, passage

This page abbreviates 2 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*per- (fare)"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "fare"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English fare"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "fær",
        "t": "journey, road"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English fær (“journey, road”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*farą"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *farą"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*per-",
        "t": "a going, passage"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *per- (“a going, passage”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "fare",
      "fare#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "fær",
      "fær#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "faru",
      "faru#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*farą",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/farą"
    ],
    [
      "*farō",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/farō"
    ],
    [
      "*per-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/per-"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A going; journey; travel; voyage; course; passage.",
        "Money paid for a transport ticket.",
        "A paying passenger, especially in a taxi.",
        "Food and drink."
      ],
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        "countable",
        "obsolete",
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}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗

verb

To experience luck, fortune or treatment (of a certain kind). · To proceed or progress (in a certain way). · To happen or occur (in a certain way). · To go; to travel.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inherited-form mentionfarenenm
Inherited-form mentionfaranang · to travel, journey
Inherited-form mention*farangmw-pro
Inherited-form mention*faranągem-pro
Derivation mention*per-ine-pro · a going, passage
Cognate mentionfarrefy
Cognate mentionvarennl · to sail
Cognate mentionfahrende · to travel
Cognate mentionfarenb
Cognate mentionfarais · to go
Cognate mentionfarasv · to travel

This page abbreviates 1 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
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        "3": "faren"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English faren"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "faran",
        "t": "to travel, journey"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English faran (“to travel, journey”)"
    },
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        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
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      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *faran"
    },
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      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
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        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*faraną"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *faraną"
    },
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      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*per-",
        "t": "a going, passage"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *per- (“a going, passage”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "farre"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian farre"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "varen",
        "t": "to sail"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch varen (“to sail”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "fahren",
        "t": "to travel"
      },
      "expansion": "German fahren (“to travel”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nb",
        "2": "fare"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Bokmål fare"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nn",
        "2": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "fara",
        "t": "to go"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic fara (“to go”)"
    },
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      "args": {
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        "2": "fara",
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      },
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    }
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    ],
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      "faran#Old_English"
    ],
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      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/faran"
    ],
    [
      "*faraną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/faraną"
    ],
    [
      "*per-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/per-"
    ],
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      "farre",
      "farre#West_Frisian"
    ],
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      "varen",
      "varen#Dutch"
    ],
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      "fahren#German"
    ],
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      "fare#Norwegian_Bokmål"
    ],
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      "fara#Icelandic"
    ],
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      "fara",
      "fara#Swedish"
    ]
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  "descendants": [],
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      "glosses": [
        "To experience luck, fortune or treatment (of a certain kind).",
        "To proceed or progress (in a certain way).",
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        "To go; to travel."
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for fare →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-ZmFyZQ