Famed

How to spell famed

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce famed

What does famed mean?

1. adjectiveWidely known and celebrated for some quality or achievement.

Famed in a sentence

• The city is famed for its bustling night markets and street food.

• She trained under a famed violinist before launching her own career.

Where does famed come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin fama, which meant 'report', 'rumour' or 'public reputation', and which itself grew from the root fari, meaning 'to speak'. The Romans personified Fama as a goddess of rumour who carried word of great deeds across the land, so the term always carried the sense of being talked about. English took the noun 'fame' from Old French fame in the 1200s, and from there the adjective 'famed' was built by adding the familiar English ending '-ed', literally meaning 'possessed of fame'. The same Latin fari sits behind a surprising family of relatives, including 'infant' (one who cannot yet speak) and 'fable' (a thing spoken). Because 'famed' is simply 'fame' with a single '-d' added, the only real spelling caution is resisting the urge to double the 'm'.

How the word is built

• fame (from Latin fama: report, reputation)
• -ed (adjectival suffix forming 'having fame')