Fairness

How to spell fairness

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce fairness

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does fairness mean?

1. nounThe quality of treating people equally and without bias or favouritism.

Fairness in a sentence

• The staff questioned the fairness of the new bonus scheme.

• A good referee is valued for fairness above all else.

Where does fairness come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is built on the adjective 'fair', which comes from the Old English fæger, meaning 'beautiful', 'pleasing', or 'attractive to the eye'. In its earliest uses the word described physical loveliness and a pleasant appearance, and only later did it broaden to cover light colouring (as in fair hair) and clear weather (as in a fair day). The sense of 'free from bias' or 'just and even-handed', which dominates the modern noun, grew out of the idea of something being clean, unblemished, and as it ought to be. The abstract noun was formed by adding the native suffix '-ness', a very old Germanic ending that turns an adjective into the name of a quality, exactly as 'kind' becomes 'kindness'. Because both halves are plain native English, the spelling is wholly regular: keep the double letters where the root 'fair' meets the suffix and you are left simply with fair + ness.

How the word is built

• fair (just, even-handed, from Old English fæger)
• -ness (noun-forming suffix meaning 'state or quality of')