famous

English

Etymology

From Middle English famous, from Anglo-Norman famous, from Latin fāmōsus, equivalent to fame +‎ -ous. Displaced native Old English hlīsful.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈfeɪməs/
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -eɪməs

Adjective

famous (comparative more famous, superlative most famous)

Well known.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:famous
- c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. The First Part , 2nd edition, part 1, London: Richard Iones, , published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii:
  By this my ſword that conquer’d Perſea,
  Thy fall ſhall make me famous through the world:
In the public eye.
Some people are only famous within their city.

Derived terms

Related terms

fame

Translations

well known

Afrikaans: beroemd
Albanian: famshëm (sq), famëmadh (sq)
Arabic: مَشْهُور (ar) m (mašhūr), شَهِير (ar) m (šahīr)
Egyptian Arabic: مشهور (mašhūr)
Armenian: հայտնի (hy) (haytni)
Azerbaijani: tanınmış
Basque: famatu
Belarusian: вядо́мы (vjadómy)
Bengali: বিখ্যাত (bn) (bikkhat), মশহুর (bn) (mośohur), নামজাদা (bn) (namjada)
Bulgarian: прочу́т (bg) (pročút), изве́стен (bg) (izvésten)
Catalan: famós (ca)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 出名 (ceot¹ meng²)

Mandarin: 有名 (zh) (yǒumíng), 著名 / 着名 (zh) (zhùmíng)
Czech: slavný (cs), proslulý (cs), věhlasný
Danish: berømt (da)
Dutch: beroemd (nl)
Egyptian:

(rḫḫy)
Esperanto: fama (eo)
Estonian: kuulus
Faroese: víðagitin
Finnish: kuuluisa (fi)
French: fameux (fr), célèbre (fr), connu (fr) m
Galician: de sona, famoso (gl), afamado
Georgian: სახელოვანი (saxelovani), ცნობილი (ka) (cnobili), სახელგანთქმული (saxelgantkmuli), სახელმოხვეჭილი (saxelmoxveč̣ili)
German: bekannt (de), berühmt (de)
Greek: διάσημος (el) (diásimos), περίφημος (el) (perífimos)
Ancient: κλεινός (kleinós), κλειτός (kleitós), ὀνομαστός (onomastós)
Greenlandic: tusaamasaq
Hawaiian: kaulana
Hebrew: מפורסם (mefursam)
Hindi: प्रसिद्ध (hi) m (prasiddh), प्रख्यात (prakhyāt), विख्यात (hi) (vikhyāt), नामी (hi) (nāmī)
Hungarian: híres (hu)
Icelandic: frægur (is)
Ido: famoza (io)
Indonesian: terkenal (id), termahsyur
Ingrian: kuuluisa
Interlingua: famose
Irish: cáiliúil
Italian: famoso (it)
Japanese: 有名 (ja) (ゆうめい, yūmei), 高名 (ja) (こうめい, kōmei), 名高い (ja) (なだかい, nadakai)
Kazakh: әйгілі (äigılı), мәшһүр (mäşhür)
Khmer: ល្បី (km) (lbəy)
Korean: 유명한 (yumyeonghan)
Latin: fāmōsus, inclitus, nobilis (la), notus (la)
Latvian: slavens
Ligurian: famôzo
Lithuanian: garsus, įžymus, gerai žinomas
Luxembourgish: berühmt
Macedonian: познат (poznat)
Malay: terkenal (ms), masyhur (ms)
Malayalam: പ്രശസ്ത (ml) (praśasta), പ്രശസ്തമായ (praśastamāya), പേരുകേട്ട (pērukēṭṭa)
Manchu: ᡤᡝᠪᡠᠩᡤᡝ (gebungge)
Mansaka: bantogan
Maori: rongonui
Mirandese: afamado, famoso
Mongolian: алдарт (mn) (aldart)
Neapolitan: famuso
Nepali: प्रसिद्ध (prasiddha)
Norman: fanmeux
Northern Sami: beakkálmas
Norwegian: berømt (no), kjent (no)
Old English: hlīsful
Old Norse: ágætr
Ottoman Turkish: بللی (belli)
Persian: نامدار (fa) (nâmdâr), مشهور (fa) (mašhur), معروف (fa) (ma'ruf)
Plautdietsch: beriemt, huachberiemt
Polish: sławny (pl), słynny (pl)
Portuguese: famoso (pt), afamado (pt), célebre (pt)
Romanian: celebru (ro), faimos (ro)
Romansch: famus
Russian: изве́стный (ru) (izvéstnyj)
Scottish Gaelic: cliùiteach, ainmeil
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: познат

Roman: poznat (sh)
Slovak: slávny, známy (sk)
Slovene: slaven
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: znaty

Upper Sorbian: sławny
Spanish: famoso (es), célebre (es), afamado (es), conocido (es)
Swedish: känd (sv), berömd (sv)
Tagalog: kilala (tl)
Tarantino: famuse
Thai: มีชื่อเสียง, โด่งดัง (th) (dòong-dang)
Tibetan: སྐད་གྲགས (skad grags)
Turkish: meşhur (tr), ünlü (tr)
Ukrainian: відо́мий (vidómyj)
Vietnamese: nổi tiếng (vi) (𬈗㗂), nổi danh (vi) (𬈗名)
Welsh: enwog (cy)
West Frisian: ferneamde
Western Bukidnon Manobo: mevantug
Yakut: ааттаах (aattaaq)

in the public eye

Arabic: مَشْهُور (ar) (mašhūr)
Belarusian: славу́ты (slavúty), сла́ўны (sláŭny), вядо́мы (vjadómy)
Bulgarian: изве́стен (bg) (izvésten), знамени́т (bg) (znamenít)
Catalan: cèlebre (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 有名 (zh) (yǒumíng), 著名 / 着名 (zh) (zhùmíng)
Dutch: alom bekend
Estonian: please add this translation if you can
Finnish: kuuluisa (fi)
French: célèbre (fr)
Georgian: ცნობილი (ka) (cnobili), ცნობილი პირი (cnobili ṗiri), სახელგანთქმული პირი (saxelgantkmuli ṗiri)
German: berühmt (de)
Hindi: मशहूर (hi) (maśhūr), प्रसिद्ध (hi) (prasiddh), प्रख्यात (prakhyāt), विख्यात (hi) (vikhyāt)
Hungarian: híres (hu)
Ingrian: kuuluisa
Latvian: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
Malayalam: പ്രശസ്ത (ml) (praśasta)
Portuguese: conhecido (pt)
Russian: изве́стный (ru) (izvéstnyj), знамени́тый (ru) (znamenítyj), просла́вленный (ru) (proslávlennyj)
Scottish Gaelic: cliùiteach, ainmeil, allail
Slovak: známy (sk)
Slovene: znamenit, slaven
Tagalog: kilala (tl)
Turkish: meşhur (tr), ünlü (tr)
Ukrainian: знамени́тий (znamenýtyj), славе́тний (slavétnyj), сла́вний (slávnyj), відо́мий (vidómyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} מפורסם (m'fursam)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} مەشھوور (meşhûr), ^{(please verify)} بەناوبانگ (ckb) (nenâwbâng), ^{(please verify)} ناودار (nâwdar)
Malayalam: ^{(please verify)} പ്രശസ്ത (ml) (praśasta)
Old English: ^{(please verify)} mǣre
Slovene: ^{(please verify)} slavne
Spanish: ^{(please verify)} famoso (es)
Swedish: ^{(please verify)} berömd (sv)

Verb

famous (third-person singular simple present famouses, present participle famousing, simple past and past participle famoused)

(transitive, obsolete) To make famous; to bring renown to.