Fair trade or fairtrade?
fair trade is a noun meaning “the words fair and trade, each in its own sense”; fairtrade is an adjective meaning “Produced in such a way that everybody involved in the production receives a…”. Use fair trade as a noun and fairtrade as an adjective. fair trade is written as two words and fairtrade as one word; they are used differently.
What is the difference between fair trade and fairtrade?
| fair trade | fairtrade | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | adjective |
| Meaning | Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see fair, trade A system of trading promoting more equitable global trade, especially to sellers and producers in poorer areas, but also to the environment | Produced in such a way that everybody involved in the production receives a fair wage for their work |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | not recorded |
| In writing | not counted (the list counts single words) | about once in every 3 million words |
Sources: fair trade and fairtrade in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of fair trade and fairtrade
fair trade
- 1
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see fair, trade
- 2
A system of trading promoting more equitable global trade, especially to sellers and producers in poorer areas, but also to the environment
fairtrade
- 1
Produced in such a way that everybody involved in the production receives a fair wage for their work
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, fair trade or fairtrade?
fair trade is a phrase, which the list of single words does not count; fairtrade about once in every 3 million words.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).