Famous

How to spell famous

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce famous

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does famous mean?

1. adjectiveWidely known and recognised by many people.

Famous in a sentence

• The museum holds a famous painting that visitors queue for hours to see.

• She became famous after her debut novel sold millions of copies.

Where does famous come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin fama, meaning 'report', 'rumour', or 'public reputation', the same root that gives us 'fame' and 'defame'. From fama the Latins built famosus, an adjective meaning 'much talked about', which could be either flattering or notorious. English took the word in through Old French as 'fameus' during the 1300s, and at first it too could swing between celebrated and infamous in tone. Over time the positive sense of being widely known and admired won out, leaving the negative shading to relatives like 'infamous'. The spelling trap is the unstressed middle: writers sometimes want an 'e' before the '-ous', but the ending is simply '-ous' attached to the 'fam-' stem, with no extra vowel.

How the word is built

• fam- (from Latin fama: fame, report)
• -ous (adjective suffix: full of)