fabulous English · revision 7917

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1425|origins=la fabulosus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈfæbjʊləs/ ''(UK)''; /ˈfæbjələs/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably borrowed through [[m|frm|fabuleux]] and directly from Latin [[m|la|fabulosus|alt=fābulōsus|t=celebrated in fable]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from fābula, a story, [[fable]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from fārī, to speak.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Mythical, legendary: probably before 1425, in a translation of Higden's ''Polychronicon'';^(Barnhart 1988) the early 15th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Word Origins notes that in early use fabulous meant known through fable, unhistorical.^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998) Fond of telling fables (1546) is an obsolete sense of persons.^(OED 1989) Of a narrative, full of fables, it is from 1555,^(OED 1989) and pertaining to fable from the 1550s.^(Etymonline) Astonishing, beyond the usual range of fact, is from 1561 in the OED and 1609 in Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) By the 1950s the sense enormous or amazing had been trivialized to marvellous, terrific,^(Etymonline) and the slang shortening fab is recorded by 1957 and was popularized by the Beatles about 1963.^(Etymonline) Gowers (1965) placed fabulous among the words of high praise that young people use for a time and then tire of, like topping, spiffing, ripping and wizard.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1425 – legendary.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1561 – astonishing.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1950s – marvellous.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1957 – fab.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Hard to believe; astonishing: ''fabulous wealth''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' Extremely good; [[wonderful]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of or told in [[fable|alt=fables]] or legends; mythical.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fabulously]]

+ * [[fabulousness]]

+ * [[fantabulous]]

+ * [[unfabulous]]

+ * [[fab]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fable]]

+ * [[fib]]

+ * [[fabled]]

+ * [[fame]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}