Where does “airfare” come from?
Airfare comes from English air and fare, with fare deriving from Middle English fare, Anglo-Norman eir, and Latin heres, tracing back through Proto-Indo-European roots related to passing or going.
airfare (English): The cost or expense of an airplane ticket or trip
Definitions
- The cost or expense of an airplane ticket or trip
Ancestry of “airfare”, step by step
airfare traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English fare
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | fare | A going; journey; travel; voyage; course;... |
| 2 | Middle English | fare | journey, going |
| 3 | Old English | fær | sudden danger, calamity; sudden attack; ambush; a... |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *far | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | farą | a means of passing, ford, ferry |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | per- | before, in front; first; to go through |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pr̥tós | passed , crossed |