▪ I. famous, a.
(ˈfeɪməs)
Forms: 4–5 famows(e, 4–6 famouse, 5 famus, 4– famous; superl. 6 famoust, 6– famousest. See also famose.
[a. AF. famous, OF. fameus (mod.F. fameux), ad. L. fāmōs-us, f. fāma: see fame and -ous.]
1. Celebrated in fame or public report; much talked about, renowned. Const. for. Also † famous of renown. a. of persons, their attributes, etc.
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3304 Ffamows in fferre londis, and floure of alle kynges. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 6421 At mailros boisill', a famus man. 1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII, 91 His moste noble fadre of famouse memorye. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xix. (Arb.) 242 The famoust Queene that euer was. 1641 Milton Reform. i. (1851) 15 The..Councel of Nicæa, the first and famousest of all the rest. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 191 The..old Stallion..Famous in his Youth for Force and Speed. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) III. 387 The body of this famous cardinal lies at Rome. 1832 W. Irving Alhambra II. 154 The famous Italian singer Farinelli. 1833 Tennyson Blackbird 16 The melody that made thee famous once, when young. |
b. of things.
| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1440 Hipsiph. & Medea, This famous tresore. 14.. Epiph. in Tundale's Vis. (1843) 103 To see this ster most famows of renown. 1587 Golding De Mornay xxii. 338 There also was her famousest Temple. 1665 Manley Grotius' Low C. Warres 255 Steeneberg, famous of old for a Harbour. 1674 Boyle Excell. Theol. i. iii. 83 The famous answer given by an excellent Philosopher. 1748 Anson's Voy. i. ii. 16 This Island of Madera..is famous..for its excellent wines. 1782 Cowper Gilpin 4 A train band captain eke was he Of famous London town. 1850 McCosh Div. Govt. ii. i. (1874) 117 The three famous laws of Kepler. 1868 Queen Victoria Life Highl. 35 The stream of which [the Tummel] is famous for salmon. |
c. Phr. famous last words (cf. word n. 25 b): a remark or prediction likely to be proved wrong by events.
| 1948 Partridge Dict. Forces' Slang 67 Famous last words, a catch-phrase rejoinder to such fatuous statements as ‘Flak's [sc. Anti-aircraft fire is] not really dangerous’. 1948 Shell Aviation News CXVII. 9/1 Leopoldville is easy to find because you cannot miss the Congo River. (Famous last words!) 1962 J. Cannan All is Discovered iv. 89 ‘Why... It's nothing.’ ‘Famous last words.’ |
† 2. Of good repute, reputable. Sc. Obs.
| 1555 in Balfour Practicks (1754) 145 Twa or thré of his nichtbouris, famous and unsuspect men. 1683 Act Justiciary 8 Aug. in Wodrow Hist. Suff. Ch. Scot. (1721) II. 309 For proving of this, adduced several famous witnesses. |
† 3. a. In a bad or neutral sense: Notorious. Obs. exc. arch.
| 1388 Wyclif Matt. xxvii. 16 He hadde tho a famous man boundun, that was seid Barrabas. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. i. iv. 48 Menacrates and Menas famous Pyrates. 1680 Morden Geog. Rect. (1685) 452 That famous infamous English Rebel Stuckley. 1691 Tillotson Serm. 1 John iv. 9 Sermons 1704 II. 460 The Death of the Cross..was the Death of famous [later edd. infamous] Malefactours. 1728 Morgan Algiers I. iv. 160 The Infamously famous Count Julian. 1817 Cobbett Wks. XXXII. 367 A famous false⁓hood, which has appeared in the Morning Post. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. (1872) II. v. ii. 174 Make the name of Mountain famous infamous to all times and lands. |
† b. Of utterances, etc.; after L. famosus: Libellous, slanderous. Obs.
| 1543 in Balfour Practicks (1754) 537 That na maner of man mak, write, or imprent ony..writingis..famous or sclanderous to ony persoun..under the pane of death. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. xxiv. (Arb.) 62 Vntrue and famous libels. |
† 4. That is matter of common talk; common, ordinary, usual. Obs.
| 1528 Paynel Salerne's Regim. B iv, Coler vnnaturall..is called famous or notable: by reason hit is ofte engendred. 1672 Baxter Bagshaw's Scand. ii. 9 Analogous..words..are to be taken in the most common or famous sense. 1680 Morden Geog. Rect. (1685) 43 Their mention is very frequent and famous during the race of the French Kings of the Caroline Line. 1727–44 Lewis Pecocke 17 Taking the word preach in its most famous signification. |
5. Used (chiefly colloq.) as an emphatic expression of approval: Excellent, grand, magnificent, splendid, ‘capital’.
| a 1700 Evelyn Diary 13 Nov. an. 1695 (1955) V. 223 Famous & very chargeable Fireworkes. 1798 Southey Battle Blenheim 36 ‘But every body said’, quoth he, ‘That 'twas a famous victory’. 1800 M. Edgeworth Parent's Assistant (ed. 3) V. 147 ‘There's to be the most famous doings, that ever were heard of upon the Downs here,..Lady Diana Sweepstakes, you know, is a famous rider, and archer.’ 1836 Backwoods of Canada 141 My Irish maid..soon roused up famous fires, and set the house in order. 1890 Spectator 6 Sept. 308/2 It is a famous place for a fair. 1966 Times 9 Nov. 1/1 Both parties..were ready to claim a famous victory in the early hours of tomorrow. |
▸ famous for fifteen minutes and variants now used allusively after the phrase used by Andy Warhol in quot. 1968: briefly famous or notorious, before fading back into obscurity; cf. fifteen minutes n. at fifteen adj. and n. Additions.
| 1968 A. Warhol Andy Warhol (Exhib. Catal., Moderna Museet, Stockholm) 12 In the future everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes. 1977 Washington Post 30 Sept. (Weekend section) 21/3 Maybe heroes are destined to remain brief flashes in our lives, as Andy Warhol once put it, with everyone getting to be famous for 15 minutes. 1991 Columbia (Columbia Univ.) Summer 26/1 A worse problem is the feeding frenzy in the industry whereby the latest famous-for-fifteen-minutes TV celebrities and politicians and entrepreneurs are paid exorbitant advances for what are essentially non-books. 1994 W. Gaddis Frolic of his Own 369 Good God talk about being famous for five minutes the Pulitzer Prize is a gimcrack out of journalism school you wrap the fish in tomorrow. 2002 Toronto Star (Nexis) 6 Feb. a25 So why the enduring appeal [of the British monarchy]? It's real celebrity at a time when anyone can be famous for fifteen minutes. |
▸ famous for being famous: famous despite having little memorable, recognizable, or distinct reason for such fame; celebrated or admired solely on account of being in the public eye.
| 1979 Washington Post 25 Jan. c1/2 Lauren Bacall, more than anyone, is not famous for any particular accomplishment. Indeed, for a whole younger generation, she is famous for being famous. 1990 A. Tomlinson Consumption, Identity & Style ix. 172 By then Frankie had reached the stage of being famous for being famous. 1996 Columbia Journalism Rev. (Nexis) May–June 8 Today, thanks to television, reporters seem ubiquitous. They have faces. They have become ‘personalities’, often more famous for being famous than for their work. 2001 Evening Times (Glasgow) (Electronic ed.) 16 Mar. Our thirst for fame these days is so all encompassing that we have a new category of celebrity—those who are famous for being famous. |
▪ II. † famous, v. Obs. exc. arch.
(ˈfeɪməs)
See also famose v.
[f. prec. adj.]
1. trans. To make famous. † a. To render celebrated, earn celebrity for (obs.). b. Of a writer, etc.: To celebrate (arch.).
| 1590 Lodge Euphues' Gold. Leg. in Halliwell Shaks. VI. 11 To famous that house..shewe thy resolution to be peremptorie. 1622 Peacham Compl. Gentl. 74 The wooden dove of Archytas, so famoused..by Agellius. 1633 Bp. Hall Hard Texts 508 This empire was famoused..by an eminent King. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. I. 465 Men..worthily famoused on this side, and beyond the Sea. 1873 Lowell Among my Bks. Ser. ii. 306 The heroic uncle, whose deeds..were properly famoused by the boy Homer. |
† 2. To cause to be generally reputed for. Obs.
| 1614–15 W. Browne Inner Temple Masque 26 From whose continuall store such pooles are fed, As in the land for seas are famoused. 1615 T. Adams Two Sonnes 75 Our eldest, whom we have famoused for our sole and entire heirs. |
Hence ˈfamoused ppl. a.; ˈfamousing vbl. n.
| 1606 Ford Honor Tri. (1843) 15 That famoused trophy. 1607 Rowlands Famous Hist. 5. We toyl so much in other Nations praise, That we neglect the famousing of our own. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 50 Men famoused for vertue. |