▪ I. fame, n.1
(feɪm)
Also 3 fam, 6 fayme.
[a. F. fame, ad. L. fāma report, fame, = Gr. ϕήµη (Dor. ϕᾱ́µᾱ) f. root fā-, ϕᾱ- (OAryan *bhā-) in L. fārī, Gr. ϕάναι to speak.]
1. a. That which people say or tell; public report, common talk; a particular instance of this, a report, rumour. Now rare.
| c 1300 Cursor M. 8750 (Gött.) Of þis dome sua spredd þe fam, þat all spac of þis king salamon. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 71 Me schal trowe olde fame, þat is nouȝt wiþseide. 1388 Wyclif 1 Sam. ii. 24 It is not good fame which Y here. 1482 Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 47 Not verely certifide of so soroful a fame and happe. 1513 More in Grafton Chron. II. 758 As the fame runneth. a 1626 Bacon Ess., Fame (Arb.) 580 Mucianus undid Vitellius by a Fame, that he scattered. 1679 Hatton Corr. (1878) 199, I heare this only from publicke fame. 1730–6 Bailey (folio) s.v., Common Fame's seldom to blame. 1747 Franklin Ess. Wks. 1840 III. 20 The very fame of our strength..would be a means of discouraging our enemies. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India III. vi. i. 38 note, The King, whose zeal for Mr. Hastings was the object of common fame. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 163 At the fame of his approach, the colonists..retreated northward. |
b. (quasi-) personified.
| 1393 Gower Conf. I. 350 Fame with her swifte winges Aboute fligh and bare tidinges. a 1547 Surrey æneid iv. (1557) E j/2 A mischefe Fame..That mouing growes, and flitting gathers force. 1548 Hall Chron. 11 These monasticall persones..toke on them to..regester in the boke of fame, noble actes. 1703 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1721) 137 On each side of the Eagle is describ'd a Fame likewise upon the Wing. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xvi, I would thou couldst clear him of other charges, with which fame hath loaded him. |
† c. without fame: ?
= ‘without fable’, certainly.
Obs.| c 1430 Hymns Virg. 116 Alle things sche trowith without fame That goddis lawe techith truthe to be. c 1450 Guy Warw. (C.) 108 Segwarde was..A trewe man, wythowten fame. |
2. a. The character attributed to a person or thing by report or generally entertained; reputation. Usually in good sense.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 222 Heo schal..þenchen þe lesse of God and leosen hire fame. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 367 Þer nas prince in þe al worlde of so noble fame. 1375 Barbour Bruce ix. 574 A knycht..Curtass [and] fair and of gude fame. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 281 His virtues passed his fame. 1456 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 183 Allas! why dede wee these offence, Ffully to shende the olde Englisshe fames. 1548 Hall Chron. 169 This is the most spot that was..ever moste to be caste in the Dukes fame. 1662 Petty Taxes 58 Such whose fames are yet entire. 1708 J. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. ii. ii. iii. (1743) 366 They ought to..enquire into her former and present fame. 1800–24 Campbell Poems, Adelgitha i, A valiant champion..slew the slanderer of her fame. 1848 M. Arnold Bacchanalia Poems 1877 II. 136 Many spent fames and fallen nights. |
b. house of ill fame: see
house.
3. a. The condition of being much talked about. Chiefly in good sense: Reputation derived from great achievements; celebrity, honour, renown.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. 27/26 On of heom: Þat was of grete fame. a 1340 Hampole Psalter viii. 1 Þe coy and þe fame of þi name ihesu. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 19 A man of mykil fame. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 5 The fame of Achilles. 1634 Massinger Very Woman v. iv, Tho' the desire of fame be the last weakness Wise men put off. 1711 Pope Temp. Fame 505 Fame{ddd}that second life in others' breath. 1816 Byron Ch. Har. iii. cxii, Fame is the thirst of youth. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 295 Bands which had long sustained..the fame of English valour. |
† b. With
adj. in pejorative sense.
Obs. rare.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 2476 (Cott.) Þe land of sodome..was in an iuel fame. 1651 Life Father Sarpi (1676) 42 This Father himself..was also in a sinister fame. |
† c. concr. One who constitutes the fame of a place; its ‘glory’.
Obs. rare.
| c 1590 Marlowe Faust. Wks. (Rtldg.) 122/2 The learned Faustus, fame of Wittenberg. |
† 4. Evil repute, infamy.
Obs.| c 1325 Poem Times Edw. II, 111 in Pol. Songs (Camden) 328 Thise gode men fallen oft in fame. c 1375 Cato Major ii. xxiii. in Anglia VII, Þei ben two wikked vices And bringe men ofte in fame. c 1425 Seven Sag. (P.) 3413 The fame that on me hys broght. 1592 Daniell Compl. Rosamond (1717) 37 Fame finds never Tomb t'inclose it in. |
5. Comb.:
a. objective, as
fame-catcher,
fame-seeker,
fame-spreader ns.;
fame-achieving,
fame-destroying,
fame-getting,
fame-giving,
fame-thirsting,
fame-thirsty,
fame-worthy adjs.;
b. instrumental, as
fame-blazed,
fame-crowned,
fame-ennobled,
fame-favoured,
fame-sung adjs.;
c. fame-flower (see
quot. 1891).
| 1601 Chester Love's Mart. cx. (1878) 71 *Fame-atchieving Arthur. |
| c 1611 Chapman Iliad xvi. 57 Take thou my *fame-blaz'd arms. |
| 1682 Hickeringill Black Non-Conformist Wks. (1716) II. 3 Let *Fame-catchers mind their stops. |
| 1811 M. Starke Beauties C.M. Maggi 36 Dear, classic soil, whence *fame-crown'd Tasso sprang. |
| 1899 R. St. Barbe In Mod. Spain 34 The fiddler with his *fame-destroying mañana theme. |
| 1777 Potter æschylus' Furies (1779) II. 294 To grace their *fame-ennobled arms with victory. |
| 1893 E. Sullivan tr. Dante's Comedy ii. 4 Rescue me from her, *fame-favoured bard. |
| 1879 T. Meehan Native Flowers & Ferns U.S. II. 55 Terete talinum... Thus Rafinesque proposed to call it Phemeranthes or ‘*Fame-flower’. 1891 Cent. Dict. s.v. Talinum. T(alinum) teretifolium, a native of the United States from Pennsylvania to Colorado and southward, a low tuberous-rooted perennial, growing on rocks and exceptional in its cylindrical leaves, has been called fame-flower from the transitoriness of its elegant purple petals. 1941 R. S. Walker Lookout 47 It appears on the sandstones at Rock City..and travels all the way to the southern extremity... This is fame-flower. |
| 1820 Shelley Let. 20 Apr. (1964) II. 185 Atoms of the *fame-getting..whirlwind. |
| 1756 Cambridge Fakeer 51 In retirement he sigh'd for the *fame-giving chair. |
| 1886 W. Graham Social Problem 20 Men, not self-seekers, nor *fame-seekers. |
| 1552 Huloet, *Fame spreader, famiger. |
| 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, ccxlviii, Let not that Day, *fame-sung, fill up the mouth of Honour. |
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. ii. Babylon 486 *Fame-thirsting wits that toyl..to trick their gracious stile. |
| 1605 Play Stucley in Simpson Sch. Shaks. (1878) 219 Portingales *fame-thirsty king. |
| 1610 Healey St. Aug. Citie of God 655 Athens..was more famous then *fame-worthy. 1855 Singleton Virgil I. 146 Fame-worthy shepherd from Amphrysus. |
▸ With an adjective or noun modifier.
of—— fame: famous for having or being——; famously associated or particularly identified with——; well-known from——.
| 1762‘Claudero’ Descr. Notar Creesh in Coll. Poems 23 The Norland clerks, of thrifty fame, Compar'd with him are very lame. 1845 F. Douglass Narr. Life F. Douglass Pref. p. v, I rose, and declared that Patrick Henry, of revolutionary fame, never made a speech more eloquent in the cause of liberty, than the one we had just listened to from the lips of that hunted fugitive. 1861 A. Strickland Old Friends (2nd Ser.) 71 The notorious young outlaw..of window-breaking fame. 1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 98/2 Among the contributors to its transactions..we find..P. Buttmann, Encke (of comet fame), L. Euler, the brothers Grimm. 1944 R. Matheson Entomol. for Introd. Courses vii. 157 The migratory locust (Locusta migratoria) of Biblical fame is probably one of the most destructive. 1963 M. Beadle These Ruins are Inhabited v. 63 A trust set up in the 1920s by George Eastman of Kodak fame. 1983J. Hooper in O. Davies Omni Bk. Paranormal & Mind xxxvi. 406 Remember the jolly, saftig endomorphs..of pop-psychology fame? 1996 India Today 30 June 172/4 The tabla maestro of the curly locks and drop-dead looks fame. |
▸
fifteen minutes of fame: see
fifteen minutes n. at
fifteen adj. and
n. Additions.
▪ II. † fame, n.2 Obs. rare.
In 6
fayme.
[ad. F. faim:—L. fam-em, fames hunger.] Want of food, hunger.
| a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon cxlviii. 560, I haue bene in y⊇ presone to bere meet to y⊇..presoners, who cryeth out for fayme. |
▪ III. fame, v. Now
rare.
(
feɪm)
[a. OF. fame-r, f. fame fame n.1; cf. med.L. fāmāre.] † 1. trans. To tell or spread abroad, report.
Obs.| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 3654 Ȝyf he þat cunseyl fyrþer fame. 1483 Cath. Angl. 122 To Fame, famare. 1555 Abp. Parker Ps. xx, His prayse to fame. 1671 tr. Palafox's Conq. China i. 7 It is famed, that they were both Generals in the Emperour of China's Armies. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 575 It was famed and reported frequently to him. |
2. To report (a person or thing)
as,
for,
to be (so and so), also
to do (so and so). Chiefly in
pass., to be currently reported or reputed.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 275 He watz famed for fre þat feȝt loued best. c 1384 Chaucer H. Fame iii. 690 Ye wolde, Ben famed good, and nothyng nolde Deserue why. a 1400–50 Alexander 2387 Alexander is..famyd For ane of þe curtast kyng þat euir croune werid. 1550 Bale Apol. 68 b, Samuel shulde be famed abroad to haue bene promysed and borne by myracle. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iv. iv. 26 Your Grace hath still beene fam'd for vertuous. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 175 This is famed to be the houshold Monument of certaine of the Kings of Iuda. 1638 Ford Lady's Trial i. iii, One however maskt In colourable privacie, is fam'd The Lord Adurnse's pensioner, at least. 1646 Buck Rich. III, iii. 82 That Richard..should fame king Edward the fourth a bastard. 1671 Milton Samson 1094 Thou art famed To have wrought..wonders with an ass's jaw! 1820 Keats Ode to Nightingale viii, The fancy cannot cheat so well As she is fam'd to do. 1881 A. J. Duffield Don Quix. III. xxiii. 141 She was..not so beautiful as she was famed. |
3. To make famous:
a. To spread abroad the fame of, render famous by talk; to talk of.
| 1388 Wyclif Matt. ix. 31 But thei..diffameden [v.r. famyden] hym thorou al that lond. c 1400 Cato's Morals 42 in Cursor M. App. iv. 1669 Þat þou be nane of þese þat men famis in fable. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. iii. 254 Be..thy parts of nature Thrice fam'd beyond, beyond all erudition. 1616 B. Jonson Epigr. i. xliii, Her foes enough would fame thee in their hate. 1635 A. Stafford Fem. Glory (1869) 137 When we desire to fame some other maid. 1814 Byron Corsair i. ii, His name on every shore Is famed and feared. |
† b. To render famous by some quality, deed, etc. Said also of the quality or deed.
Obs.| a 1552 Leland Collect. (1725) I. ii. 549 Syr Knight, ye be cum hither to fame your Helmet. 1592 Greene Poems 31 The..cedars trees, Whose stately bulks do fame th' Arabian groues. 1613 W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. iv, Of holy Ursula (that fam'd her age). c 1665 Mrs. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson 3 In that magnanimity and virtue, which hath famed this island. |
4. To spread an ill report of (a person); to defame. [Perh. short for
defame,
diffame: but
cf. fame n.1 4.]
| 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. iv. 232 Þow hast famede me foule by-fore þe kynge here. c 1430 Syr Tryam. 21 False and fekylle was that wyght, That lady for to fame. ? c 1475 Sqr. lowe Degre 392 Yf it may be founde in thee, That thou them fame for enmyte. |
† 5. nonce-use.
to fame it: to become famous.
| a 1625 Fletcher Hum. Lieutenant ii. ii, Do you call this fame? I have famed it; I have got immortal fame, but I'll no more on't. |
▪ IV. † fame, v.2 Obs. rare.
[f. L. fam-es hunger. Cf. OF. afamer.] trans. To famish, starve. Hence
ˈfamyt ppl. a.| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 122 Steuen wille vs traueile, & famen vs to dede. a 1400 Cov. Myst. (1841) 105 Thyn ffamyt folke with thi ffode to fede. |
▪ V. fame obs. f. of
foam.