Where does “unfair” come from?
Unfair comes from Old English unfæġer, a compound of un- and fæġer meaning not fair or not beautiful.
unfair (English): not beautiful; uncomely; unattractive; sorrowful;...
Definitions
- not beautiful; uncomely; unattractive; sorrowful;...
Ancestry of “unfair”, step by step
unfair traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English fair
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | fair | Beautiful, of a pleasing appearance, with a pure... |
| 2 | Middle English | fayr | fair |
| 3 | Old English | fæġer | beautiful |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | fagr | beautiful |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | fagraz | suitable, fitting, appropriate, nice |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ph₂ḱ- | to fasten, place |
via Middle English unfair
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | unfair | unattractive, unseemly |
| 2 | Old English | unfæġer | not fair, not beautiful, foul, ugly, horrid |
Words derived from “unfair”