Word of the Day

: July 24, 2013

fard

verb FAHRD

What It Means

: to paint (the face) with cosmetics

fard in Context

We were greeted at the door by a young woman with heavily farded cheeks.

"Truda drew her tin from her top pocket. 'Isa, you've been too long in my company. Why should I harbor you? You look as if you're farded up for Hallows Eve!'" - From Anna Lawrence Pietroni's 2010 novel Ruby's Spoon

Did You Know?

Though a relatively uncommon little word, "fard" is used to describe a very familiar activity-the application of cosmetics. When it is encountered these days it is often in participle form, as in our first example above, or simply as an example of an unusual or old-timey word. "Fard" was borrowed from Anglo-French (from the verb "farder") and first appeared in English in the mid-1400s. It is ultimately of Germanic origin and akin to the Old High German word "faro," meaning "colored."