fairingn.1
/ˈfɛːrɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈfɛrɪŋ/ British.
1. A present, souvenir, or other item given at or brought back from a fair. Now archaic.figurative in quot. 1631.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > giving > gift or present > [noun] > gift brought from or given at a fair
fairing1574
market fair1776
1574 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara Familiar Epist. 134 The Gentlemen [?1575 Gentlewomen] that did serue her [sc. the Empresse]..would vse their liberty in asking fairinges.
1589 J. Stockwood (title) A Bartholmew fairing for parentes.
1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre Prol. sig. A3 in Wks. II The Maker..hopes, to night To giue you for a Fayring, true delight.
1661 S. Pepys Diary 31 Aug. (1970) II. 166 Into Christ's Hospitall, and there Mr. Pickering bought them some fairings.
1773 R. Fergusson Poems 117 He'll..creish her loof Wi' what will buy her fairin, To chow that day.
1786 F. Burney Diary 8 Nov. (1842) III. 216 Presenting her one of my fairings.
1827 J. Clare Shepherd's Cal. 149 With kerchief full of fairings in her hand.
1883 Longman's Mag. Apr. 655 The lasses get their ‘fairing’ from the lads in gingerbread and nuts from the stalls.
1906 H. Fielding Soul of People xiii. 160 Down below the pagoda are many temporary stalls built, where you can buy all sorts of fairings.
1997 J. Jakeman Let there be Blood xxi. 219 He was at the fair that day—and he has a fairing—a rosette—in his buttonhole.
2.
a. A present or gift of any kind, esp. one given by a lover. Also: a gift of money intended to be spent at a fair. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > giving > gift or present > [noun]
givec888
lakeOE
presentc1230
giftc1275
garrison1297
benefit1377
beneficec1380
givinga1382
handsela1393
donativec1430
oblation1433
propine1448
presentationc1460
don1524
sportule1538
premie?1548
first penny1557
donation1577
exhibition1579
donary1582
fairing1584
merced1589
gifture1592
meed1613
recado1615
regalo1622
regale1649
dation1656
compliment1702
dashee1705
dash1788
cadeau1808
bestowment1837
potlatch1844
prez.1919
Harry Freeman's1925
pressie1933
1584 C. Robinson et al. Handefull Pleasant Delites (new ed.) sig. Aii (heading) A Nosegaie alwaies sweet, for Louers to send for Tokens, of loue, at Newyeres tide, or for fairings, as they in their minds shall be disposed to write.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost v. ii. 2 We shalbe rich ere we depart, Yf Fayrings come thus plentifully in. View more context for this quotation
1630 J. Penkethman tr. W. Lily (title) The fairest fairing for a schoole-bred sonne.
1668 S. Pepys Diary 17 Sept. (1976) IX. 309 I..did give her five guineas as a fairing.
1727 M. Delany Autobiogr. & Corr. (1861) I. 135 A jewel box which Mrs. Tillier desires you to accept as her fairing.
1740 T. Lediard German Spy (ed. 2) xxii. 193 She told me, she was going to the Fair, and hop'd I would give her something for a Fairing.
1826 M. R. Mitford in Monthly Mag. Jan. 14 To our little pet, Lizzy..she predicted a fairing.
1920 H. Campbell Island Folk Songs 18 I choiced my lass's fairing—A brooch wi' a cairngorm.
1960 ‘R. Crompton’ William—the Explorer vi. 192 ‘An' a fairing for the nipper’, he said... ‘He wants to go to the fair,’ explained Robert, ‘but he hasn't any money’.
1991 A. Blair More Tea at Miss Cranston's 29 There were tea caddies, presents from everywhere, fairings, dresser-plates, crotcheted anti-mascassars and cushions.
b. Scottish and Irish English (northern). That which is deserved; a due reward or recompense, whether good or evil. Chiefly in to get one's fairing, to give (a person) his or her fairing. Cf. desert n.1 3. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > dueness or propriety > [verb (intransitive)] > deserve well or ill > get one's deserts
to sow the wind and reap the whirlwindc1384
to drink to one's oysters1470
to serve (a person) right1587
to get the wissel of one's groat1721
to get one's fairing1787
to get one's bitters1812
to get one's faring1846
come1896
society > morality > dueness or propriety > [verb (transitive)] > deserve (well or ill) > give one his deserts
to serve (a person) right1587
to give (a person) his or her fairing1818
1787 R. Burns Death & Dr. Hornbook xxx, in Poems (new ed.) 64 Niest time we meet, I'll wad a groat, He's got his fairin!
1818 W. Scott Old Mortality viii, in Tales of my Landlord 1st Ser. IV. 161 Mackay will pit him down..he'll gi'e him his fairing.
1823 J. G. Lockhart Reginald Dalton I. ii. iv. 262 ‘Ane o' them got his fairin.’
1830 J. Banim Denounced I. xii. 106 Punish him, Maud! pay him! give him his fairing!
1926 ‘H. MacDiarmid’ Penny Wheep 21 Blaefaced afore the throne o' God He'll get his fairin' yet.
1999 J. Robertson Day O Judgement 19 Nae hotchin an nae yabberin nou, That aw mey lairn, baith wee an great, The fairins that tae each is due.
3. The action of going to the fair. Chiefly in to go a-fairing, to go fairing. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1838 United Service Jrnl. June 211 I went fairing, and got some gingerbread.
1885 J. F. Molloy Royalty Restored II. 218 Even her majesty was tempted on one occasion to go a-fairing.
1887 Cornhill Mag. Mar. 251 The fairing was done with shivers.
1904 D. Sladen Japan in Pictures v. 122/2 Some of this happy family go a-fairing or holidaying while the others carry on the business.
1922 Living Age 11 Nov. 366/2 Young man Catchieside, and if I go a-fairing, Who's declaring I'm too old for going?
4.
a. A small gingerbread biscuit; a ginger nut. In early use: spec. one sold at a fair (cf. sense 1). Now usually in Cornish fairing.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > biscuit > [noun] > other biscuits
dorcake14..
cracknelc1440
hard breada1500
crackling1598
Naples biscuit1650
gingerbread man1686
chocolate biscuit1702
biscotin1723
sponge biscuit1736
maple biscuita1753
butter biscuit1758
nut1775
Oliver biscuit1786
funeral biscuit1790
rock biscuit?1790
ratafia1801
finger biscuit1812
Savoy drop1816
lady's finger1818
snap1819
Abernethy1830
pretzel1831
wine-biscuit1834
gingersnap1838
captain's biscuit1843
lebkuchen1847
simnel1854
sugar cookie1854
peppernut1862
McClellan pie1863
Savoy ring1866
Brown George1867
beaten biscuit1876
digestive1876
Osborne1876
Bath Oliver1878
marie1878
boer biscuit1882
charcoal biscuit1885
biscotti1886
fairing1888
snickerdoodle1889
pfeffernuss1891
zwieback1894
Nice1895
Garibaldi biscuit1896
Oswegoc1900
squashed fly1900
amaretto1905
boerebeskuit1905
Romary1905
petit beurre1906
Oswego biscuit1907
soetkoekie1910
Oreo1912
custard cream1916
Anzac1923
sweet biscuit1929
langue de chat1931
Bourbon biscuit1932
Afghan1934
flapjack1935
Florentine1936
chocolate chip cookie1938
choc chip cookie1940
Toll House cookie1940
tuile1943
pizzelle1949
black and white1967
Romany Cream1970
papri1978
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. Fairing, a peculiar kind of thin, brown cake sold at fairs, called by the better class ‘gingerbread nuts’.
1893 Yorks. Herald 14 Jan. (Suppl.) 4/6 The gilt ginger-bread ‘fairings’ which were common throughout the country..often had the large and small alphabets printed upon them.
1957 Times 12 Oct. 1/ From Cornwall. Genuine Cornish gingerbreads and Cornish fairings, made by Furniss of Truro for over 100 years.
1984 J. Grigson Brit. Cookery 35/2 Of the biscuits, my favourite is the Cornish fairing with its crackled top and brown spicy flavour.
2007 A. Kelley Bower Bird 170 She buys some fairings—Cornish biscuits.
b. A small Victorian porcelain ornament of a type originally sold at fairs, typically featuring human or animal figures and bearing a humorous or sentimental caption.
ΚΠ
1964 W. S. Bristowe (title) Victorian china fairings.
1972 Daily Tel. 4 Feb. 11/7 A fairing of two girls standing before a parson and saying ‘Please, Sir, what would you charge to christen my doll?’ went..for £140.
1999 B. Neels Good Wife 40 The fairing was small, a man and woman holding hands, crudely done, yet charming.
Compounds
General attributive and objective.
ΚΠ
1593 Passionate Morrice sig. Iv Honestie knowes what the fairing-monger will saye.
1790 F. Burney Diary Aug. (1842) V. 150 I placed one of my fairing work-baskets..on a table.
1801 G. Chipman Amer. Moralist 172 I produced our little fairing box, and begged him to accept the contents.
1882 C. Bell tr. G. M. Ebers Burgomaster's Wife xviii. 195 It was the whole of his fairing-money.
1902 W. G. Simms Captain J. Smith ix. 270 The settlement should have known all the life and bustle of a market-town in fairing time.
1998 S. Bagdade & A. Bagdade Warman's Eng. & Continental Pottery & Porcelain (ed. 3) 88/3 Fairing themes include courtship and marriage scenes.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
fairingn.2
/ˈfɛːrɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈfɛrɪŋ/ 1.
a. The action or process of smoothing the lines of a ship, aircraft, or motor vehicle, typically in order to reduce drag; streamlining.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > [noun] > shipbuilding > specific procedures
furring1622
ceiling1627
spaling1805
fortifying1820
conversion1850
boot-topping1867
fairing1867
horning1879
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > construction and servicing aircraft or spacecraft > [noun] > making streamlined
cleaning-up1922
fairing1927
streamlining1936
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 286 Fairing, sheering a ship in construction. Also, the draught of a ship.
1903 Marine Engin. Oct. 526/1 One large item of expense which should not be overlooked is that of ribbands and the fairing of the ship by carpenters.
1927 Daily Tel. 6 Sept. 11/3 The fairing of the wings into the fuselage.
2008 D. Danenberg Compl. Wooden Runabout Restoration Guide i. xii. 197/2 (caption) Some details..must be handcarved into the covering boards after fairing has been done.
b. A structure or part which serves to smooth the lines of a ship, aircraft, or motor vehicle, typically in order to reduce drag; structures of this type collectively. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > parts and equipment of motor vehicles > [noun] > body or bodywork > structures to reduce drag or lift
fairing1936
spoiler1963
aerofoil1966
air dam1970
skirt1974
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > spacecraft > rocket > [noun] > types of rocket engine > fairing
fairing1964
skirt1964
1914 Aeronaut. Jrnl. Oct. 316 Fairing, a piece added to any structure to reduce its head resistance or drag.
1916 H. Barber Aeroplane Speaks 137 Fairing, usually made of thin sheet aluminium, wood, or a light construction of wood and fabric; and bent round detrimental surface in order to give it a ‘fair’ or ‘stream-like’ shape.
1936 Times 19 Oct. 8/4 The car, which has graceful curves and fairings to reduce wind-noise, costs £368.
1964 J. L. Nayler Dict. Astronautics 252 Skirt, the lower outer part of a rocket vehicle. It acts as a fairing to the rocket motor or booster.
1988 Zool. Jrnl. Linn. Soc. 94 81 The skin fold may act as a fairing to streamline the eyeball.
2004 Independent (Compact ed.) 10 May 17/3 The amount of broken bits of motorcycle plastic and fairing was unbelievable, demonstrating the number of accidents they must have up there.
2. In extended use: the action, process, or result of smoothing the lines in a visual representation of something.
ΚΠ
1933 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 140 680 The friction results were obtained from Goodman's fig. 46..; a certain amount of cross plotting, and some approximate but slight ‘fairing’, was necessary.
1959 B. G. D. Salt in J. Halas & R. Manvell Technique Film Animation 319 Movements in animation are generally ‘faired’...The term ‘to fair’ or ‘fairing’—an old craft word commonly used in the aircraft industry—is probably the most accurate available.
2008 P. Salvi et al. in F. Chen & B. Jüttler Adv. in Geom. Modeling & Processing i. 160 Figure 4 shows a curve before and after fairing.
Compounds
General attributive.
ΚΠ
1930 Daily Express 23 May 11/5 The fairing piece at the extreme end of the tail..was slightly damaged.
1934 Flight 25 Jan. 78 e/1 The section on lines will..apply equally well to a set of ‘fairing lines’ for an ordinary fairing drawing.
1972 McGraw-Hill Yearbk. Sci. & Technol. 1971 367/1 Ship surfaces..obtained by manual drafting techniques assisted by a fairing tool, the batten.
2000 Scootering Mar. (Scooter Trader Suppl.) 4/2 Vespa 50 Special, Primavera 125 engine,..fairing trim, crashbars backrack, Dexter tyres.
2007 J. Wu et al. in M. Gross & H. Pfister Point-based Graphics iv. 147 The typical discrete fairing methods for polygonal meshes..can be generalized.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.11574
n.21867