Pa. t. and pa. pple. fared. Forms: Inf. 1–2 faran, 2–5 faren (Orm. farenn), 4–5 faryn, 3–4 south. vare, veare, 4–5 far, 6 farre, 4–7 fair, fayr(e, (5–6 faar(e, 6 faer), 3– fare. Pa. t. (str.) 1 fór, 2–3 for (south. vor), 4–5 fore, 4 fer, foure, 4–5 foore), 4–7 fur(e, 6 Sc. fuir(e, 8 Sc. foor. Pa. pple. (str.) 1–4 faren, 3–5 farin, -yn, 4–6 farn(e, fare, (5 fairen). Pa. t. and pa. pple. (weak) 5 faryd, 6 fard(e, (7 feared), 6– fared. [A Com. Teut. str. vb.: OE. faran, pa. t. fór, pa. pple. faren, corresponds to OFris. fara, fôr, faren, OS. faran, fôr, (gi)faran Du. varen, voor, gevarn), OHG. faran, fuor, (gi)faran (MHG. var(e)n, vuor, gevar(e)n) ON. fara fór, farenn (Da. fare, foer, faret, Sw. fara, for, farit), Goth. faran, fôr, farans:—OTeut. *faran, fôr, farano-, f. pre-Teut. *por-, pōr-, f. Aryan root *per, por, pər to pass through, whence many derivatives in all the Aryan langs.: cf. Sk. par, pṛ to carry through or across, Gr. πόρος way, passage, ford, L. portāre to carry; also the words mentioned under FAR, FOR.
The change from the strong to the weak conjugation seems to have been due in part to the influence of the derivative vb. FERE, which in Eng. had the same sense, though in the other Teut. langs. its equivalent expressed the transitive sense ‘to carry.’ In the present stem this vb. became obsolete before 14th c.; but its pa. t. and pa. pple. ferd(e (in northern dialects also fard(e) continued in use, virtually serving as inflexions of fare. The irregular wk. vb. thus produced (fare, ferd) became regular (fare, fared) before the 16th c. The strong pa. t., already comparatively infrequent in ME., seldom appears after 15th c. exc. in Sc.; of the strong pa. pple. we have no examples after 16th c.]
I. To go, travel.
1. intr. To journey, travel, make one’s way. Now arch. or poet. † In early use occas. with cognate obj. To fare a voyage, a way (cf. wayfarer, -ing).
971. Blickl. Hom., 15. Nu we faraþ to Gerusalem.
1154. O. E. Chron., an. 1135. On þis ȝære for se King Henri ouer sæ.
c. 1205. Lay., 2412. Alch mon mihte faren ȝend hire lond þaih he bere ræd gold.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 3295 (Cott.). I am a man farand þe way.
c. 1314. Guy Warw. (A.), 1101. Nov is Gij to Warwike fare.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 5079. He had ferrest to fare.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, XI. 530. To the castell thai thoucht to fair.
c. 1450. Myrc, 265. Whenne þey doth to chyrche fare.
1530. Lyndesay, Test. Papyngo, 100. Quhare euer I fure, I bure hir [the bird] on my hande.
15[?]. Sir A. Barton, in Surtees Misc. (1890), 64. Nor a Burgesse voy(a)ge we der not farre.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. i. 11. Resolving forward still to fare.
1609. Heywood, Brit. Troy, XV. lvi.
| Now hurries strong Eneas, madly faring | |
| Through flames, through swords, whether Erinnis cals. |
1664. Flodden F., i. 5. And how he fared was into France.
1667. Milton, P. L., II. 940.
| Nigh founder’d on he fares, | |
| Treading the crude consistence, half on foot, | |
| Half flying. |
1725. Pope, Odyss., X. 683.
| Sadly they fared along the sea-beat shore; | |
| Still heaved their hearts, and still their eyes ran o’er. |
1794. Burns, There was a lass, ii. O’er the moor they lightly foor.
1837. Carlyle, Fr. Rev., III. I. iv. Abbé Sicard, with some thirty ether Nonjurant Priests … fare along the streets.
1855. M. Arnold, Poems, Resignation, 69. Through the deep noontide heats we fare.
fig. 1837. Carlyle, Fr. Rev., II. V. v. Altars … changing to the Gobel-and-Talleyrand sort, are faring by rapid transmutations to—shall we say, the right Proprietor of them?
2. In wider sense = GO. † a. of persons, lit. To let fare: = to let go. Obs.
a. 1123. O. E. Chron., an. 1101. Þa heofod men heo betwenan foran.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 3935 (Cott.). Þe angel badd [iacob] lete him far.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 2209, Ariadne.
| And up she ryste, and kyssed in al hire care | |
| The steppes of hys fete, there he hath fare. |
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 5549. Sum … farand as bestis.
c. 1475[?]. Sqr. lowe Degre, 739. To morowe ye shall on hunting fare.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. iii. 15. One knocked at the dore, and in would fare.
† b. fig. Obs.
a. 1225. St. Marher., 6. He of wreððe for neh ut of his iwitte.
1552. Lyndesay, Monarche, 5325. First wyll I to the Scripture fare.
† c. To depart from life; to die. Obs.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 115. He scal faran to þan eche liue for his treowscipe.
c. 1200. Vices & Virtues (1888), 15. Ær ðane he of ðese liue fare.
c. 1220. Bestiary, 731. Hise loðe men sulen to helle faren.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 1393.
| Hwi ne hihe we for | |
| to beon i-fulhtnet, | |
| as he het hise, | |
| ear we faren henne? |
a. 1300. Cursor M., 2356 (Cott.). His fader was farn o liue. Ibid., 25441 (Cott.). Fast i fund to fare.
c. 1330. Arth. & Merl., 70. Out of this warld y most fare.
1340–70. Alex. & Dind., 330. We … leue þat þe soule … schal fare to blisse.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. VII. 98. Whan he shal hennes fare.
† d. To fare on: to rush upon, assault. Obs.
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot. (1858), I. 10. He … fuir on thame with sic a felloun force.
† e. Of a liquid, a stream: To flow, ‘run.’ Of immaterial things, esp. time: To go, pass, proceed. Obs. or arch.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 2153. Ðe vii. fulsum ȝeres faren.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 1034 (Cott.). Flummes farand in fer landes.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 149. A fame þat fer in fele kynges londes.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 3001. Foure houres full farne & þe fifte neghes.
15[?]. Smyth & Dame, 327, in Hazl., E. P. P. III. 213. That bloud out gan fare.
1827. Hood, Hero & L., xciv.
| There, falling on her arms,—the crystal skin | |
| Reveals the ruby tide that fares within. |
f. To fare astray († mistiche, amiss): = to go astray. Obs. or arch.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 119. He scal misliche faran on monie ged wilþan.
c. 1425. Seven Sag. (P.), 2337.
| Why and whare-fore hyt hys, | |
| That ȝoure syght fareth amys. | |
| Ibid., 2756. | |
| Thou levest wykked concel i-wys, | |
| That makes the fare amys. |
1596. Spenser, Hymn Heav. Love, xxviii.
| Him first to love, great right and reason is, | |
| Who first to us our life and being gave; | |
| And after, when we fared had amisse, | |
| Us wretches from the second death did save. |
a. 1849. J. C. Mangan, trans. Kerner, Home-sickness, Poems (1859), 119.
| There calleth me ever a marvellous Horn, | |
| ‘Come away! Come away!’ | |
| Is it earthly music faring astray, | |
| Or is it air-born? |
† g. To ‘go,’ range, have a place. Obs. rare–1.
1704. J. Logan, in Pa. Hist. Soc. Mem., IX. 293. The fields and boats fare before schools or books.
† h. To ‘go,’ pass, change into something else.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., V. lxv. (1495), 183. Whan the water heetyth, therof comyth whytnesse as it faryth in foom.
3. rarely trans. † a. To tread (under foot). b. Of a horse: To take (a person) along.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., 120.
| Under my feete I shalle thaym fare, | |
| Those ladys that wille [not] lere my lare. |
1867. Carlyle, Remin. (1881), II. 139. Ourselves two alone in the world, the good [pony] ‘Larry’ faring us.
II. With reference to behavior or condition.
† 4. To ‘go on,’ behave, conduct oneself, act.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 11807 (Gött.).
| Þat wili wolf, þat for sua fals. | |
| Ibid., 16762 + 41 (Cott.). | |
| Mony grele clerkez þat were | |
| Far in other land, | |
| Seghen þe son fare soo. |
1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 599. He … fares als an unresonabel beste.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 654.
| I will you faithfully enforme how ye fare shall, | |
| Your worship to wyn and þe wethur haue. |
1470. Malory, Arthur, XX. xii. Ye fare as a man that were aferd.
1563–87. Foxe, A. & M. (1596), 65/1. He fared as one out of his wits.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Æneid, VII. 534.
| Thus fares the Queen, and thus her fury blows | |
| Amidst the crowd, and kindles as she goes. |
† b. To ‘go on’ impetuously, rage, rail (against). Obs. Cf. FARE sb.1 6 c.
1603. Holland, Plutarch’s Mor., 98. One who being bidden to reade over and peruse a poore seely Epigram or other writing that is nothing woorth, taketh on and fareth against the paper wherein it is written, for being thicke, course or rugged. Ibid. (1609), Amm. Marcell., XVI. iv. 60. Constantius having intelligence hereof, fared and fumed. Ibid., XVI. xi. 73. They fared and raged above their wonted manner.
† c. With prep. by, with: To deal with, treat, esp. in To fare fair or foul with. Also in indirect passive. To fare with oneself: to behave. Obs.
1340–70. Alex. & Dind., 266. Wiþ him fare as a fol þat failede his wittus.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Pars. T., ¶ 825. So faren they by wommen.
a. 1450. Knt. de la Tour (1868), 25. It is gret drede to fare foule with hem in suche materes.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, VII. xxiii. The sorou that Dame Lyones made there maye no tonge telle, for she soo faryd with her self as she wold haue dyed.
1483. Vulgaria abs Terentio, 9 b. He is a man … that few men can … faare wyth all.
1493. Festivall (W. de W., 1515), 34 b. Whan they se him [Christ] so foule faren with.
1526. Tindale, 2 Cor. v. 11. Seynge then that we knowe howe the lorde is to be feared, we fare fayre with men.
1614. Raleigh, Hist. World, II. V. vi. § 3. 621. Demetrius … fared very angerly with his brother.
† d. To fare with (a thing): to make use of, employ, possess; to live upon (food). Obs.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, ci. 9. My fas … sware þat it is ypocrisy þat i fare with.
1340–70. Alex. & Dind., 202. Fode for to fare wiþ. Ibid., 242. To witen of þe wisdam þat ȝe wiþ faren. Ibid., 618. & al þat weihes in þis word scholde wiþ fare.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 2944. Quat faris þou with?
5. † a. Followed by as though, as if, that; To act so as to cause an expectation or belief; to pretend. Also To let fare. Obs.
1483. Vulgaria abs Terentio, 17 b. If thou be wyse fare as thowe thou knowist nott.
a. 1535. More, De Quat. Noviss., Wks. 73/2. It maketh the stomak wamble, and fare as it would vomit.
1548. Udall, etc., Erasm. Paraph., John vii. 19, 20. They let fare as if they thought the multitude did not knowe their wickednes.
1570–6. Lambarde, A Perambulation of Kent (1826), 301. He would many times after fare in shew as though he would have flowne in their faces.
1573. G. Harvey, Letter-bk. (Camden), 11. Thai fare that this singulariti in philosophi is like to grow to a shrode matter.
1633. D. Rogers, Treat. Sacraments, I. 121. Doe ye fare, as if the Lord bad yee come hither in your owne strength?
b. To seem likely, bid fair. dial. (With inf. it is often little more than a periphrasis for the finite vb.)
1849. Dickens, Dav. Copp., xlvi. ‘How do you fare to feel about it, Mas’r Davy?’
1869. Peacock, Lonsdale Gloss. ‘She [a cow] fares a cauving.’
1876. Whitby Gloss. His ailment fares to go hard with him.
1883. Jessopp, Clouds over Arcady, in The Nineteenth Century, Oct., 595. Fares as if they mos’ of ’em goes up country, and they tell me as when they’ve got ’em they has to work till they drops, and then they kangaroos eats ’em.
1884. Baring-Gould, Mehalah, i. 7. When she fares to say or do a thing, there is no staying tongue or hand.
1888. Rider Haggard, Col. Quaritch, III. v. 77. The skilly is that rough it do fare to take the skin off your throat.
6. impers. To ‘go’; to happen; to turn out. Occas. with well, ill, etc. Const. † by, with.
c. 1230. Hali Meid., 7. Sekerliche swa hit fareð.
1340–70. Alex. & Dind., 795. So it fareþ by ȝou folk þat fillen ȝou siluen.
1481. Caxton, Reynard (Arb.), 89. He forgeteth that one wyth that other and so faryth by me.
1586. Cogan, Haven Health, ccxiii. (1636), 223. It fareth by them as it doth by a lampe, the light whereof is almost extinct, which by powring in of oyle by little and little, is long kept burning, and with much oyle powred in at once, it is cleane put out.
1655–60. T. Stanley, Hist. Philos. (1701), 31/2.
| We think it fares alike with good and bad; | |
| Glory and selfe-conceit our fancies glad | |
| Till suffering comes, then their griev’d spirits bleed, | |
| Who did before their soules with vain hope feed. |
1671. Milton, P. R., III. 443. So fares it, when with truth falsehood contends.
1713. Swift, Frenzy of J. Denny. Beware, Doctor, that it fare not with you as with your predecessor the famour Hippocrates.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., xliv.
| How fares it with the happy dead? | |
| For here the man is more and more; | |
| But he forgets the days before | |
| God shut the doorways of his head. |
7. To ‘get on’ (well or ill); to experience good or bad fortune or treatment.
c. 1000. Ælfric, On N. T. (Gr.). 20. Hu mæȝ se man wel faran, þe [etc.].
a. 1300. Cursor M., 11900 (Cott.). Send him quar he faris werr.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, III. 548.
| The king then at theim speryt þarne, | |
| How thai, sen he thaim seyne, had farne. |
1382. Wyclif, 3 John 2. I make preyer, thee for to entre, and fare welsumly.
c. 1450. Merlin, 71. He farith well and is in hele.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., 62. For we fare wars then ever we fowre.
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot., II. 6.
| And how he fuir that tyme in his travell, | |
| It war ouir lang and tariesum to tell. |
1587. Turberv., Trag. T. (1837), 10.
| Remember how fonde Phæton farde, | |
| that vndertooke to guide | |
| Apollos charge, by meane of which | |
| that wilfull wanton dide. |
1607. Hieron, Wks., I. 193. Looke vpon the example of Ahab, hee shed the innocent blood of Naboth; he committed Idolatry & serued Baalim: no man could haue brought more euill vpon his posterity, then he himselfe did: for hence it was, that the kingdome was taken from his house, his children had their heads cut off, and all his race feared the worse for his sake.
1612. Rowlands, Knaue of Harts, 41.
| The world did wrangle for their wealth, | |
| And Lawyers far’d the better. |
1703. Pope, Thebais, 520.
| So fares a sailor on the stormy main, | |
| When clouds conceal Boötes’ golden wain. |
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 130, 30 July, ¶ 1. Fearing that his Poultry might fare the worse for it.
1755. Mem. Capt. P. Drake, I. vii. 50. Colonel Tatton was then Lieutenant-Colonel to our Regiment, who kindly asked me, applying his Hand to his Breast, how I fared of my Wound.
1784. Cowper, Task, IV. 341.
| Ill fares the traveller now, and he that stalks | |
| In ponderous boots beside his reeking team. |
1829. Lytton, Disowned, 6. Well, sir, how fares your appetite? Old Dame Bingo will be mortally offended if you do not do ample justice to her good cheer.
1848. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 161. Sculpture fared as ill as painting. Nymphs and Graces, the work of Ionian chisels, were delivered over to Puritan stonemasons to be made decent.
1871. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xvii. 77. Copsige was invested with the Earldom, and he at once set forth to take possession. We shall see hereafter how he fared on his errand.
Phrase.
1614. Bp. Hall, A Recollection of such Treatises, 412. Beware, least their diligence shall out-strip you, and vpbraid you with that ancient check of going far and faring worse.
1862. Stanley, Jew. Ch., I. ii. 38. We may go much farther and fare much worse.
8. spec. To be (well or ill) entertained with food; to feed (well, ill, hardly, sumptuously, etc.).
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. VI. 8.
| Whenne ich hadde myn hele, | |
| And lymes to labore with · and louede wel fare. |
1532. More, Confut. Tindale, Wks. 651/2. Saynt John therfore liued in deserte, and fasted and fore hard, and laye hard, and watched and prayed.
1607. Shaks., Timon, III. vi. 37. Feast your eares with the Musicke awhile: If they will fare so harshly o’ th’ trumpet’s sound.
1611. Bible, Luke xvi. 19. A certaine rich man … fared sumptuously euery day.
1666. Pepys, Diary (1879), IV. 215. I do not think they fared very hard.
1712. Steele, Spect., No. 479, 9 Sept., ¶ 3. I fared very well at dinner.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), VII. 324. No animal fares more sumptuously.
1856. Kane, Arct. Expl., I. xv. 169. Our breakfast, for all fare alike, is hard tack, pork, stewed apples frozen like molasses-candy, tea and coffee, with a delicate portion of raw potato.
9. Used in imperative with well, as an expression of good wishes to a parting friend, or as a mere formula in recognition of parting; = FAREWELL int. arch. a. with the person as subj. (see sense 7). † Also occas. in infinitive.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XIII. 180. Frendes, fareth wel.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Wife’s T., Prol., 501.
| Let him farwel, God give his soule rest, | |
| He is now in his grave and in his chest. |
c. 1440. York Myst., xvii. 204. Fares wele, ȝe be bygilid.
1533. Gau, Richt Vay (1888), 109. Fair now veil.
1551. Robinson, trans. More’s Utop. (Arb.), 166. I byd you moste hartely well to fare.
1582. T. Watson, Centurie of Loue, i. (Arb.), 37.
| Well fare the life sometymes I ledde ere this, | |
| When yet no downy heare y-clad my face. |
1611. Bible, Acts xv. 29. Fare ye well.
1826. Beddoes, Letter to B. Procter, Poems, 171.
| Then fare, as you deserve it, well and live | |
| In the calm feelings you to others give. |
1859. Tennyson, Elaine, 692.
| A diamond is a diamond. Fare you well | |
| A thousand times!—a thousand times farewell! |
b. impers. (see sense 6) with dat.
1671. H. M., trans. Erasm. Colloq., 544. If they be good men they will be glad that the plain-hearted are warned, but if they prefer gain before godliness, fare them well.
1676. Hobbes, Iliad, XX. 321.
| But fare him well. He will not come agen, | |
| So glad he is that he hath scaped so. |
1816. Byron, Fare thee well, i.
| Fare thee well! and if for ever, | |
| Still for ever, fare thee well: | |
| Even though unforgiving, never | |
| ’Gainst thee shall my heart rebel. |
a. 1839. Praed, Poems (1864), I. 247, ‘To ——,’ vi.
| Farewell, my best beloved; beloved, fare thee well! | |
| I may not mourn where thou dost weep, nor be where thou dost dwell. |
1877. Holderness Gloss., Fares-te-weel: fare thee well.
† III. 10. To ache, throb, dial. ? Obs.
[Perh. etymologically ‘to go on,’ rage: cf. 4 b.]
1781. in Hutton, Tour to Caves, Gloss.
1847. in Halliwell.
IV. In phraseological combination with advbs.
† 11. Fare about. To go about, set oneself. Obs.
1563. J. Pilkington, Burn. Paules Ch., v. sig. Q ij. Theym that fare about to doe againste the ordinance of God.
12. Fare forth (analytical form of OE. forðfaran). See FARE v.1 and FORTH.
a. To go forth, depart, start.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 225. To heueriche hie sulle fare forð mid ure drihte.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, III. 345.
| The queyne, and all hyr cumpany, | |
| Lap on thar horé, and furth thai far. |
c. 1400. Melayne, 206.
| Then Rowlande thus his were þan made | |
| Fares forthe with Baners brade. |
1647. H. More, Song of Soul, I. I. xxvi. Like Doves so forth they fore.
1727–38. Gay, Fables, I. I. xiv. 5.
| Forth he fares, all toil defies: | |
| Misfortune serves to make us wise. |
1853. C. Kingsley, Hypatia, xxi. 258. Before sunrise … Raphael was faring forth gallantly, well armed and mounted.
† b. To go on, advance, with respect either to space or time. In the latter sense also quasi-impers.
1340–70. Alex. & Dind., 939. Whan he is fare so forþ fer in his age.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 3260. It was forþ [to] niȝt faren bi þat time.
† c. To go by, pass away. Obs.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 1629.
| Pinen, | |
| þe fareð forð in an hondhwile. |
† 13. Fare up. To get up. Obs.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 545. Þan faris scho vp and farkis furth a fute or tway.
