The Connection Between Fard and Cosmetics

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 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."