Renowned

How to spell renowned

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce renowned

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does renowned mean?

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

Renowned in a sentence

• The clinic hired a renowned surgeon to lead the new transplant unit.

• That bakery is renowned across the county for its sourdough.

Where does renowned come from?

Language of origin: French

This word comes from the Old French renomer, meaning 'to make famous' or 'to celebrate by name', which combined the prefix re- with nomer 'to name'. The French root traces back to the Latin nominare, 'to name', built on nomen, the ordinary Latin word for 'name'. The literal sense was therefore 'named again and again', that is, repeatedly spoken of, which slid naturally into the modern meaning of being widely celebrated. English took in the noun 'renown' during the 1300s and developed the adjective 'renowned' soon after. The crucial spelling trap lives in that history: although the word sounds as if it should contain the 'known' of fame, it actually descends from 'name', so there is no letter k anywhere in it.

How the word is built

• re- (intensive/again)
• nown (from Old French nomer: to name, from Latin nomen: name)
• -ed (past-participle adjective suffix)