fame English · revision 5830

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=a1225|origins=la fama}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /feɪm/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fro|fame|t=fame, reputation, rumour]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la|fāma|t=talk, rumour, report, reputation]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) related to Greek phḗmē “voice, report”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from PIE [[ine-pro|*bha-|t=to speak]], the root of Latin fārī “to speak”.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) In Roman mythology the goddess Fama personified rumour.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The character attributed to a person or thing, their reputation: before 1225 in the OED; probably before 1200 in Barnhart, in the ''Ancrene Riwle''.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Being much talked about, renown or celebrity, is from about 1290, the late 13th century in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Public report or rumour is from about 1300;^(OED 1989) Trench noted that the King James Bible often used fame for “report” alone.^(Trench 1859) The sense of reputation survives in ''house of ill fame'', a brothel, from the mid-17th century.^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998) The verb, to report, is from 1303.^(OED 1989) ''Famous'' is from about 1380, in Chaucer's ''House of Fame''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a1225 – reputation.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1290 – renown.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – rumour.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1303 – the verb, to report.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1380 – ''famous''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * mid-17th century – ''house of ill fame''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The state of being known and talked about by many people; [[renown]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(archaic)'' Reputation, or [[rumour]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fameless]]

+ * [[famacide]]

+ * [[outfame]]

+ * [[hall of fame]]

+ * [[ill fame]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[famed]]

+ * [[famous]]

+ * [[infamous]]

+ * [[fable]]

+ * [[fate]]

+ * [[defame]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A different obsolete fame meant hunger (before 1533), and the Middle English verb fame “to starve” is an aphetic form of Old French afamer (see [[famish]]).^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}