English Explanatory Dictionary

fame

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Something said or reported; gossip, rumour.
  2. One's reputation.
  3. The state of being famous or well-known and spoken of, especially for something positive.
verb
  1. to make (someone or something) famous

Pronunciation

/feɪm/ en-us-fame.ogg

Word forms

fame fames faming famed

Etymology

From Middle English fame, from Old French fame (“celebrity, renown”), itself borrowed from Latin fāma (“talk, rumor, report, reputation”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéh₂-meh₂, from *bʰeh₂- (“to speak, say, tell”). Cognate with Ancient Greek φήμη (phḗmē, “talk”). Related also to Latin for (“speak, say”, verb), Old English bōian (“to boast”), Old English bēn (“prayer, request”), Old English bannan (“to summon, command, proclaim”). More at ban. Displaced native Old English hlīsa.

Synonyms

famousness

Antonyms

obscurity unknownness

Related words

famed famous renown

Derived words

15 megabytes of fame 15 minutes of fame antifame claim to fame cyberfame disfame e-fame enfame famacide fame digger fame-ish fameless famesque fame whore fame-worthy fifteen megabytes of fame fifteen minutes of fame hall of fame herostratic fame horse fame house of ill fame ill fame Instafame microfame outfame semifame unfame walk of fame woman of ill fame
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