English
fame
Fame comes from Old French fame ‘celebrity, renown’, from Latin fāma ‘talk, rumor, report, reputation’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to speak, say, tell’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeh₂-‘to speak, say, tell’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéh₂meh₂reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fāmā‘something said about another’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfāma‘talk, rumor, report, reputation’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400fame‘celebrity, renown’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fame
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1597fame
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeh₂-‘to speak, say, tell’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰéh₂meh₂reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fāmā‘something said about another’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfāma‘talk, rumor, report, reputation’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400fame‘celebrity, renown’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fame
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1597fame
Earliest quotation: c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]: “I find thou art no less than fame hath…”
The story
Related also to Latin for (“speak, say”, verb), Old English bōian (‘to boast’), Old English bēn (‘prayer, request’), Old English bannan (‘to summon, command, proclaim’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- ‘to speak, say, tell’
phone, focus, professor, fuel, ben, phase, ban, favourite, photographer, fantasy, favor, emphasis, profession, bee, abandon, fancy, fate, phenomenon, confession, fabulous, confess, phantom, symphony, fatal, beacon, fairy, beck, infant, boon, eff, bane, prophetic, epiphany, foyer, banish, buoy, profess, fab, bene, banal, 126 more
through Proto-Italic *fāmā ‘something said about another’
through Latin fāma ‘talk, rumor, report, reputation’
through Old French fame ‘celebrity, renown’
Today it means
noun Something said or reported; gossip, rumour.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- / fame