English
a day after the fair
A day after the fair comes from English fair ‘community gathering to celebrate and exhibit…’.
- English1500–presentfair‘community gathering to celebrate and exhibit local achievements’
- Englishearliest quotation 1605a day after the fair
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- English1500–presentfair‘community gathering to celebrate and exhibit local achievements’
- Englishearliest quotation 1605a day after the fair
Earliest quotation: 1605, Thomas Heywood, If You Know Not Me: “You are in your loue as free as in…”
Made of the words a + day + after + the + fair
Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos ‘one’
Proto-Germanic *ainaz ‘one’
Proto-West Germanic *ain ‘one’
Old English ān ‘one; a certain’
Middle English a
English a
Proto-Germanic *dagaz
Proto-West Germanic *dag
Old English dæġ ‘day’
Middle English day ‘a day’
English day
Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó ‘off, away’
…
Proto-Germanic *after ‘after, behind’
Proto-West Germanic *aftar
Old English æfter ‘after’
Middle English after
English after
Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- ‘to attach’
Proto-Germanic *fagraz ‘appropriate’
Proto-West Germanic *fagr ‘beautiful’
Old English fæġer ‘beautiful’
Middle English fayr ‘beautiful’
English fair
The story
The term refers to someone who has missed a fair (‘community gathering to celebrate and exhibit local achievements; event for public entertainment and trade, etc.’) by coming to visit it a day late.
Linked words
through English fair ‘community gathering to celebrate and exhibit…’
Today it means
adv Too late.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / English fair / a day after the fair