Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The state of being widely known, recognized, or of great popular interest.
  • noun Public estimation; reputation.
  • noun Archaic Rumor.
  • transitive verb To make renowned or famous.
  • transitive verb Archaic To report to be.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To famish.
  • To defame.
  • noun A public report or rumor.
  • noun Report or opinion widely diffused; renown; notoriety; celebrity, favorable or unfavorable, but especially the former; reputation: as, the fame of Washington; literary fame: rarely used in the plural.
  • To report.
  • To make famous.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Public report or rumor.
  • noun Report or opinion generally diffused; renown; public estimation; celebrity, either favorable or unfavorable.
  • transitive verb To report widely or honorably.
  • transitive verb To make famous or renowned.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun rare What is said or reported; gossip, rumour.
  • noun The state of being famous or well-known and spoken of.
  • verb transitive to make (someone or something) famous

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun favorable public reputation
  • noun the state or quality of being widely honored and acclaimed

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin fāma; see bhā- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English, from Old French fame ("celebrity, renown"), from Latin fāma ("talk, rumor, report, reputation"), from Proto-Indo-European *bheh₂meh₂-, from Proto-Indo-European *bheh₂- (“to speak, say, tell”). Cognate with Ancient Greek φήμη (phēmē, "talk"). Related also to Latin for ("speak, say", v), Old English bōian ("to boast"), Old English bēn ("prayer, request"), Old English bannan ("to summon, command, proclaim"). More at ban.

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Examples

  • Whatever is enclosed within marks of parenthesis is also independent of the rest of the sentence; as, I stake my fame (_and I had fame_), my heart, my hope, my soul, upon this cast.

    Higher Lessons in English A work on english grammar and composition Brainerd Kellogg

  • For rumour [the Greek pheme, via fama in Latin, gives us our word fame] is an evil thing; by nature she's a light weight to lift up, yes, but heavy to carry and hard to put down again.

    Socrates ? a man for our times Bettany Hughes 2010

  • Must be real career boost when your main claim to fame is to be able to mock someone.

    Fey likely to revive Palin impersonation 2010

  • His other claim to fame is to have steered the Orwellian Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill onto the Statute Book, a bill that would, in its unamended state, have allowed the Government to make laws without having to bother with the tedious business of Parliament approval.

    Jim Murphy: Cuddly Bear or Ruthless Careerist Apparatchik? 2008

  • His other claim to fame is to have steered the Orwellian Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill onto the Statute Book, a bill that would, in its unamended state, have allowed the Government to make laws without having to bother with the tedious business of Parliament approval.

    Archive 2008-02-10 2008

  • I am going to make you famous, not that your fame is any less without my help.

    Very, very much. Jessica Hagy 2007

  • For that more lasting success which we call fame other qualities are needed, such qualities as imagination, fancy, and magic and force in the use of words.

    Prose Fancies (Second Series) Richard Le Gallienne 1906

  • Her 15 minutes of "fame" is over and she has milked it for all it is worth.

    Palin an issue in Kentucky 2010

  • It's a free country and I certainly don't begrudge Mr. Coursey the right to make money in any way he sees fit, but (and I'm being charitable here) I'm not sure his "fame" is a good fit for his business model.

    The Pork Endorsement Dave Hurteau 2008

  • Hey, the guy's claim to fame is that he was the economic development brains behind Vera Katz -- what were you expecting?

    Jack Bog's Blog: June 2009 Archives 2009

Comments

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  • Fame is the perfect practice of anonymity is the perfect practice of fame.

    May 4, 2008