Celebrated

How to spell celebrated

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce celebrated

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does celebrated mean?

1. adjectiveWidely known and praised; renowned.
2. verbMarked an occasion with festivities or honoured something publicly (past tense of celebrate).

Celebrated in a sentence

• adjective

  The gallery displayed works by a celebrated painter.

• verb

  The team celebrated their championship win at a local bar.

• adjective

  She is a celebrated author whose novels sell worldwide.

• verb

  They celebrated their wedding anniversary with a quiet dinner.

Where does celebrated come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin adjective celeber, which meant 'frequented', 'crowded', or 'much visited', and by extension 'renowned' because places thronged with people tend to be famous. From it Latin formed the verb celebrare, meaning 'to throng', 'to honour with a crowd', and later 'to solemnise or observe with festivity'. English took the verb 'celebrate' in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, originally in religious contexts such as celebrating Mass, before it broadened to any joyful marking of an occasion. The past participle 'celebrated' then hardened into a standalone adjective meaning 'much talked about' or 'famous', preserving the original Latin sense of being on everyone's lips. The same celeber root survives in 'celebrity', which is simply the state of being celebrated. The spelling keeps a single l and a single b with the unstressed middle vowel written as e, the spot where writers most often hesitate.

How the word is built

• celebr- (from Latin celeber: frequented, renowned)
• -ate (verb-forming suffix)
• -ed (past-tense / adjectival suffix)