LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
English → Latin

“fair” in Latin

The English word fair itself goes back to Latin fēriae.

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

fair
Beautiful, Vid:
Of weather, winds, etc., serenus (bright, cloudless; of the sky and weather): sudus (seudus, not wet; not rainy; of the wind and weather): secundus (favorable; of the wind). Fair weather, serenum; serenitas (or serenitates; opposed to imbres, Col.); sudum: idonea tempestas (with reference to a voyage; for sailing, ad navigandum): the weather being fair, sereno; serenitate: when it is fair, ubi serenum or sudum est: whilst it is fair, dum sudum est: calm and fair weather, tranquilla serenitas: it is becoming fair, disserenascit (Liv.); but disserenat (Plin.) = it is fair; when the weather is fair and without wind, cum serenum atque placidum est. A fair wind, ventus secundus, or prosper, or idoneus: to sail with a fair wind, ad occasionem aurae evehi (Suet., Oct., 87): to have the wind fair, ventum nactum esse secundum (Caes.): with a very fair wind, secundissimo vento.
Equitable, aequus: justus [SYN. in EQUITABLE]: modicus (moderate; of price). It is fair, aequum, verum (☞ Liv., 3, 49, fin.), par, jus, fas est, with infinitive., or accusative and infinitive; to make a fair demand; to ask only what is fair, aequa postulare. I think it fair, aequum censeo.
Clear (Vid :), clarus (of letters, writing, etc.). To write out fair, perhaps pure describere (Gell., 9, 13, where, however, the meaning is different). To write a fair hand, *clare scribere.
Of complexion, etc, candidus (of a dazzling fairness, etc., puella; humeri, colla, cervix, ora, etc.): clari colons: claro colore (bright-colored): pallidus (pale): subpallidus (rather pale). Poetical expressions are lacteus (Verg.), and lacteolus (Catullus; milk-white): niveus (snow-white): eburneus (like ivory).
MISCELLANEOUS PHRASES. To have fair play, libere agere or facere posse (to have full liberty of action); in suo jure non or a nullo impediri (not to have one’s rights encroached upon); aequos, or incorruptos or incorruptos atque integros habere judices (to have impartial judges). Having a fair outside, speciosus (a, um) pelle decora (Hor.): by fair means, cum gratia (e.g., impetro, quod postulo, Terentianus); cum bona gratia (opposed to cum mala gratia, Ter., Phorm., 4, 3, 17): by fair means or foul, *cum gratia aut per vim; *aut precibus aut vi: to wish to stand fair with anybody, alicui placere velle; apud aliquem in gratia poni velle.
fair s.
mercatus (also as the place): status in quosdam dies mercatus (Tac., Hist., 3, 30, 1); ☞ nundinae = a weekly market. A much-frequented fair, mercatus frequens: to appoint a fair, mercatum instituere: to hold a fair, mercatum habere: to go or come to a fair, to visit it, ad mercatum ire or proficisci or venire. To come the day after the fair, (Proverb) cena comesa venire.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for fair?
The usual Latin words for “fair” are serēnus, sūdus, secundus; also aequus, iūstus, modicus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.