King James Bible Dictionary

FAIR, adjective

1. Clear; free from spots; free from a dark hue; white; as a fair skin; a fair complexion. hence,

2. Beautiful; handsome; properly, having a handsome face.

Thou art a fair woman to look upon. Genesis 12:11. Hence,

3. Pleasing to the eye; handsome or beautiful in general.

Thus was be fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches. Ezekiel 31:3.

4. Clear; pure; free from feculence or extraneous matter; as fair water.

5. Clear; not cloudy or overcast; as fair weather; a fair sky.

6. Favorable; prosperous; blowing in a direction towards the place of destination; as a fair wind at sea.

7. Open; direct, as a way or passage. You are in a fair way to promotion. hence, likely to succeed. he stands as fair to succeed as any man.

8. Open to attack or access; unobstructed; as a fair mark; a fair butt; fair in sight; in fair sight; a fair view.

9. Open; frank; hones; hence, equal; just; equitable. My friend is a fair man; his offer is fair; his propositions are fair and honorable.

10. Not effected by insidious or unlawful methods; not foul.

He died a fair and natural death.

11. Frank; candid; not sophistical or insidious; as a fair disputant.

12. Honest; honorable; mild; opposed to insidious and compulsory; as, to accomplish a thing by fair means.

13. Frank; civil; pleasing; not harsh.

When fair words and good counsel will not prevail on us, we must be frighted into our duty.

14. Equitable; just; erited.

His doom is fair

That dust I am, and shall to dust return.

15. Liberal; not narrow; as a fair livelihood.

16. Plain; legible; as, the letter is written in a fair hand.

17. Free from stain or blemish; unspotted; untarnished; as a fair character or fame.

FAIR, adverb

1. Openly; frankly; civilly; complaisantly.

One of the company spoke him fair

2. Candidly; honestly; equitably; He promised fair

3. Happily; successfully.

Now fair befall thee.

4. On good terms; as, to keep fair with the world; to stand fair with one's companions.

To bid fair is to be likely, or to have a fair prospect.

FAIR and square, just dealing; honesty.

FAIR, noun

1. Elliptically, a fair woman; a handsome female. The fair the female sex.

2. Fairness; applied to things or persons. [Not used.]

FAIR, noun [Latin forum, or feriae, a holiday, a day exempt from labor; Gr. to trade, whence, emporium, the primary sense of which is to pass.]

A stated market in a particular town or city; a stated meeting of buyers and sellers for trade. A fair is annual or more frequent. The privilege of holding fairs is granted by the king or supreme power. Among the most celebrated fairs in Europe are those of Frankfort and Leipsic in Germany; of Novi in the Milanese; of Riga and Archangel in Russia; of Lyons and St. Germain in France. In Great Britain many towns enjoy this privilege.

A harbour in the south of Crete, some 5 miles to the east of which was the town of Lasea (Acts 27:8). Here the ship of Alexandria in which Paul and his companions sailed was detained a considerable time waiting for a favourable wind. Contrary to Paul's advice, the master of the ship determined to prosecute the voyage, as the harbour was deemed incommodious for wintering in (9-12). The result was that, after a stormy voyage, the vessel was finally wrecked on the coast of Malta (27:40-44).

A harbor in Crete. Paul tarries at, on his way to Rome.
Acts 27:8

a harbor in the island of Crete, (Acts 27:8) though not mentioned in any other ancient writing, is still known by its own Greek name, and appears to have been the harbor of Las'a.

FA'IR-HAND adjective Having a fair appearance.

FA'IRING, noun A present given at a fair.

FA'IRLY, adverb

1. Beautifully; handsomely. [Little used.]

2. Commodiously; conveniently; as a town fairly situated for foreign trade.

3. Frankly; honestly; justly; equitably; without disguise, fraud or prevarication. The question was fairly stated and argued. Let us deal fairly with all men.

4. Openly; ingenuously; plainly. Let us deal fairly with ourselves or our own hearts.

5. Candidly.

I interpret fairly your design.

6. Without perversion or violence; as, an inference may be fairly deduced from the premises.

7. Without blots; in plain letters; plainly; legibly; as an instrument or record fairly written.

8. Completely; without deficience. His antagonist fought till he was fairly defeated.

9. Softly; gently.

FA'IRNESS, noun

1. Clearness; freedom from spots or blemishes; whiteness; as the fairness of skin or complexion.

2. Clearness; purity; as the fairness of water.

3. Freedom from stain or blemish; as the fairness of character or reputation.

4. Beauty; elegance; as the fairness of form.

5. Frankness; candor; hence, honesty; ingenuousness; as fairness in trade.

6. Openness; candor; freedom from disguise, insidiousness or prevarication; as the fairness of an argument.

7. Equality of terms; equity; as the fairness of a contract.

8. Distinctness; freedom from blots or obscurity; as the fairness of hand-writing; the fairness of a copy.

(Heb. izabhonim), found seven times in Ezekiel 27, and nowhere else. The Authorized Version renders the word thus in all these instances, except in verse 33, where "wares" is used. The Revised Version uniformly renders by "wares," which is the correct rendering of the Hebrew word. It never means "fairs" in the modern sense of the word.

a word which occurs only in (Ezekiel 27:1) ... and there no less than seven times, vs. (Ezekiel 27:12,14,16,19,22,27,33) in the last of these verses it is rendered "wares," and this we believe to be the true meaning of the word throughout.

FA'IR-SPOKEN, adjective Using fair speech; bland; civil; courteous; plausible.

Arius, a fair-spoken man.

FA'IRY, noun

[The origin of this word is not obvious, and the radical letters are uncertain. the conjectures of Baxter, Jamieson and others throw no satisfactory light on the subject.]

1. A fay; an imaginary being or spirit, supposed to assume a human form, dance in meadows, steal infants and play a variety of pranks. [See Elf and Demon.]

2. An enchantress.

Fairy of the mine, an imaginary being supposed to inhabit mines, wandering about in the drifts and chambers, always employed in cutting ore, turning the windlass, etc., yet effecting nothing. The Germans believe in two species; one fierce and malevolent; the other gentle. [See Cobalt.]

Fairy ring or circle, a phenomenon observed in fields, vulgarly supposed to be caused by fairies in their dances. This circle is of two kinds; one about seven yards in diameter, containing a round bare path, a foot broad, with green grass in the middle; the other of different size, encompassed with grass.

FA'IRY, adjective

1. Belonging to fairies; as fairy land

2. Given by fairies; as fairy money or favors.

FA'IRYLIKE, adjective Imitating the manner of fairies.

FA'IRYSTONE, noun A stone found in gravel pits.

The fossil echinite, abundant in chalk pits.