What does the evil queen from Snow White says, "Fairest of them all"?

[Anonymous]

In Snow White the evil queen asks, who is the "fairest" of them all. What does she mean by "fairest"? I did some researching and it says by fair they meant "lightest" or whitest". But all this time I thought it meant most kindest, or most beautiful. Why do you think. I mean I would make sense for it to mean "whitest", because after all Snow White has skin as white as snow.

[lilacblossom]

i always thought it was weird too.. but yea fair means white or revealing, aka SNOW WHITE. the disney stories are pretty old, so im assuming the English language was really old too with odd words here and there...

[Deft_maiden]

It also means purest. It's your decision which one you pick
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/fairest

[justbanANNAz]

yeh in that sense fairest meant most beautiful… i dont think she would go to all that trouble to kill snow white because she was whiter than she was…the queen was pretty white herself

[Daph81]

I think "fairest" means the most flawless, most perfect, most beautiful.

[COCOCHANEL]

fair means pretty in this case...
it can also mean white...

[Asker]

Thanks

[Cheeky_Unfortunate]

How many years did it take you to figure this out?