Airfare

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The expense incurred for securing a seat on an aircraft for travel
2. The financial charge required to obtain a ticket for flying on an airplane
3. The amount paid to purchase a ticket for traveling by airplane

Etymology: "Airfare" is about as transparent as compounds get: "air" plus "fare," with "fare" in its old sense of the price paid for passage. The fare was the sum charged to carry a passenger, whether by coach, ship or cab, and the word had been used that way for centuries before anyone flew. Pairing it with "air" simply tells you which kind of passage the fare buys. The word's real interest lies in how far "fare" has travelled in meaning. The same root gave us the verb "fare" meaning to travel or get along, as in "how did you fare?", and the noun for a passenger's food and drink. Once aircraft carried paying customers, the old transport fee needed only a new first element to describe the ticket price for a flight.

Synonyms: flight price, ticket price