fare

"Fare" is not just the money you pay for a bus ticket. Most commonly, it means the price of travel, such as a train fare, taxi fare, or plane fare. In travel talk, it can also mean the passenger, as when a taxi driver picks up a new fare. As a verb, "fare" describes how someone does in a situation. If you ask, "How did you fare in the competition?" you are asking how well someone did. It can also mean food and drink, especially in a slightly old-fashioned or descriptive way. A "bill of fare" is an old term for a menu, and "hearty fare" means simple, filling food.

The word "fare" has changed over centuries, growing from an old idea of traveling or going into several modern meanings. It comes from Old English faran, meaning "to go" or "to travel." From that sense, one common modern meaning developed: the cost of a journey. When you pay a bus fare or an airline fare, you are paying the price for being carried from one place to another. In taxi use, the noun can also mean the passenger being carried, which is why drivers may refer to their customers as "fares."

However, "fare" is also a verb. To "fare well" or "fare poorly" means to do well or badly in a situation. For example, "He fared badly in the negotiations" means he did not do well there. This use often appears when talking about results, progress, or how someone managed under certain conditions.

Another meaning of "fare" is food and drink. This sense is less common in everyday speech, but it still appears in phrases like "traditional holiday fare" or "Italian fare." In this use, the word does not mean the price of a trip or how someone performed. Instead, it refers to the kind of meal or refreshments being offered. So the same word can point to the cost of travel, a person's results in a situation, a passenger in a vehicle, or the food set before you.