Fanfare

How to spell fanfare

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce fanfare

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does fanfare mean?

1. nounA short, showy burst of trumpet or brass music, or by extension any elaborate public display marking an important moment.

Fanfare in a sentence

• The ceremony opened with a brass fanfare that filled the hall.

• The new phone was launched with enormous fanfare and a week of advertising.

Where does fanfare come from?

Language of origin: French

This word came into English in the early 1700s straight from French, where fanfare meant a flourish or short tune played on trumpets and horns. The French word is widely thought to be imitative in origin, an echo of the bright, repeated blast of a brass instrument, and it is connected to the older verb fanfarer, meaning to blow a trumpet showily. Some scholars trace a further link to the Spanish fanfarrón, meaning a braggart or someone who shows off, which fits the sense of loud, attention-grabbing display. From the literal trumpet call the meaning broadened so that today a fanfare can be any showy public introduction or burst of publicity, with or without actual music. The spelling keeps the French shape intact, which is why the two syllables echo each other (fan-fare) and why writers should resist the urge to spell the second half like the English word 'fair'.

How the word is built

• fanfare (a single root borrowed whole from French; likely echoic of a trumpet flourish, not built from separable parts)