▪ I. renown, n.
(rɪˈnaʊn)
Forms: α. 4–7 renoun(e, 5 Sc. ra-), 5–6 renovne, 6 -nounn; 4–5 renon(e; 4–7 renowne, (5 Sc. ra-), 5 renownn, rennowne, 5– renown. β. 5–7 renoume, (6 Sc. -mne), 6 renowm, 6–7 renowme.
[a. AF. renoun, renun, = OF. renon, later renom (see renome n.), f. renomer to make famous, f. L. re- re- + nomināre to name: cf. renomee. The form renowme is prob. an assimilation to the earlier form of the verb, or to later F. renom.]
1. of renown, of fame or distinction; widely known or celebrated. † Occas. in pl.
| α 13.. Coer de L. 689 Sir Foulke Doyly of renoun. Ibid. 1682 Hys barouns, Eerles and lordes off renouns. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. Prol. 158 A raton of renon most renable of tonge. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 121 The moste wyse clerkes and Maysteris of renoune that haue beyn afor vs in al tymys. a 1500 Bernardus De Cura 183 That men may say, ȝon man is of renowne. 1535 Lyndesay Satyre 1206 Lo! quhair thair sits ane Priores of renown. 1623 Milton Ps. cxxxvi. 62 In bloody battail he brought down Kings of prowess and renown. 1782 Cowper Gilpin 2 John Gilpin was a citizen Of credit and renown. |
| β 1560 Bible (Genev.) Gen. vi. 4 Mightie men, which in olde time were men of renoume. a 1592 Greene Alphonsus Wks. (Rtldg.) 228/1 He marcheth on unto our chiefest seat, Naples, I mean, that city of renowm. |
b. So
of great (high, etc.) renown.
| α 13.. Seuyn Sag. (W.) 552 A riche man of gret renoun. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 13774 Two þousand of þe Bretouns, Wiþoute men of grete renouns. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxx. (Theodora) 40 A man of gud renone. c 1400 Melayne 21 In Tuskayne townnes gon he wyn..This lorde of grete renownn. c 1450 Merlin 106 Ther was noon but..seide that he sholde be of high renon. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utop. (1895) p. xciv, A prince of much renowne and immortall fame. a 1600 Song in Shakes. Oth. ii. iii. 96 He was a wight of high Renowne, and thou art but of low degree. 1784 Cowper Task v. 691 As if, like him of fabulous renown, They had indeed ability [etc.]. 1842 Tennyson You ask me Why 10 A land of just and old renown. |
| β 1413 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) iv. xxxviii. (1859) 63 A noble kynge that hyght Poeticus, of grete power, and wonder grete renoume. 1470–85 Malory Arthur i. xvi. 57 Yonder I see..the man of the most renoume. 1596 Danett tr. Comines (1614) 263 Which had been of so great estimation and renowme through all Christendome. |
† c. with great renown, with much distinction or display. Also without
adj. Obs.| c 1375 Cursor M. 14725 (Fairf.) As men dos ȝet in toun þer faire is halden wiþ grete renoun. c 1440 York Myst. xxv. 207, I rede we make vs redy bowne,..And hym ressayue with grete rennowne. c 1575 Raid of Reidswire iii. in Scott Minstr. Scot. Bord. (1802) I. 98 The Rutherfoords, with grit renown, Convoy'd the town of Jedbrugh out. ? a 1800 Lord Saltoun xi. in Child Ballads IV. 348/1 Then out spake her father, he spake wi renown. |
2. The fact or condition of being widely celebrated or held in high repute; celebrity, fame, honourable distinction.
| α 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 369 We no recche of no ricchesse no renoun of landus. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. 293 Ther salle the Rownde Tabille losse the renowne. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lviii. 197 Huon..had grete desyre too attayne to good renowne. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. v. iv. 151 Honor, high honor and renowne To Hymen. 1659 Hammond On Ps. lxxii. 17 His memory and honour..shall descend upon his posterity, as a mark of renoun. c 1683 Waller On St. James's Park 11 'Tis of more renown To make a river, than to build a town. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 146 ¶8 Whoever claims renown from any kind of excellence, expects to fill the place which is now possessed by another. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 59 Forsaking thee, what shipwreck have we made Of honour, dignity, and fair renown! 1821 Shelley Adonais xlv, The inheritors of unfulfilled renown Rose from their thrones. 1833 Tennyson Lady Clara Vere de Vere 2 Of me you shall not win renown. |
| β 1538 Elyot s.v. Celebro, to celebrate or brynge in renoume. a 1583 Sir H. Gilbert Q. Eliz. Acad. (1869) 12 Better it is to haue Renowme among the good sorte, then to be lorde over the whole world. 1586 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. (1594) 69 Great and proud armies may by notable victories procure to themselves renowm and glorie. 1604 R. Cawdrey Table Alph., Renoume, credite, fame. |
b. With
poss. pron. or genitive: The fame or reputation attaching to a particular person, place, etc.
| α c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 248 (297), I..love as wele your honour and renoun, As creature in al this world yborn. c 1440 Ipomydon 1500 Thus Caymys rode toward the towne, Whan he had lost all his renowne. 1508 Dunbar Ball. Ld. B. Stewart 50 Throw Scotland..Fleys on weyng thi fame, and thi renoune. 1580 Sidney Ps. ix. iii, Their renown, which seem'd so like to last, Thou dost put out. 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 219 Artificers,..if they be not known by the ancient renowne of their shoppes [etc.]. 1726 Swift Gulliver i. v, The Emperor..the Renown of whose Virtues had..filled the whole World with Admiration. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 123 His renown had spread even to the coffeehouses of London and the cloisters of Oxford. 1874 Green Short Hist. vii. §6. 403 The renown of the Spanish infantry had been growing. |
| β 1455–6 in Househ. Ord. (1790) 15 It shold be to his singuler renoume, fame, and laude. 1540–1 Elyot Image Gov. 7 To his most noble and immortall renoume. 1587 Golding De Mornay Ep. Ded., [To] hold him back from seeking to inlarge his renowme. |
† c. of renown, in respect of fame or distinction.
Obs. rare.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 14753 Westsex [was] þe þrydde of renoun. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. ii. xvii. 1664 Off Venes he made þe gret towne Þat ȝhit is ryalle of ranowne. 1508 Dunbar Gold. Targe 88 Rich to behald, and nobil of renounn. |
† 3. Report, rumour. (Sometimes implying sense 2.)
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 5003 Renoun ran [v.r. tydynges ronne], þat ouer al reches, To ilk a man mad þei speches. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xii. (Mathias) 189 [Of] þat sad ded þe ranowne sowne rane throw al þe towne. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1054 Dido, Swich renoun was there sprongyn of hire goodnesse. c 1450 Merlin 176 And so com the renoun in to the hoste, that thei durste not ride that wey with-oute grete foyson of peple. 1610 Shakes. Temp. v. i. 193 Of whom, so often I haue heard renowne, But neuer saw before. |
† b. Reputation of a specified kind.
Obs. rare.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 73 Abbot & prioure..Wer priued of þar office, of woulfes had renoun. 1540–1 Elyot Image Gov. (1549) 12 From that tyme he had the renoume of constance and grauitee. 1603 Shakes. All's Well iv. iii. 19 A young Gentlewoman..of a most chaste renown. 1608 ― Per. iv. vi. 42 That dignifies the renowne of a Bawd. |
† c. Good name, reputation.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1611 Shakes. Cymb. v. v. 202 To make the noble Leonatus mad, By wounding his beleefe in her Renowne. |
† d. Commendation
of a person.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1631 Chapman Cæsar & Pompey Plays 1873 III. 194 His much renowne of you, quit with your utmost. |
▪ II. renown, v. (
rɪˈnaʊn)
Also 6–7
renoume, (6
renoumpne),
renowme;
renoune, 6–7
renowne.
[ad. OF. renoumer, var. renomer, -nommer (see renome v.); the form renown has been assimilated to the n. See also renowned ppl. a.] 1. trans. To make famous, spread the fame of; to celebrate. Now
rare.
| α 1530 Palsgr. 686/1, I renoume one, I gyve hym a renoume, Je renomme. 1581 Mulcaster Positions xxxix. (1887) 218 Neither take I wealth to be any worthy cause to renowme the owner. 1609 Broughton Princ. Positions 25 The third of Esdras was penned to renowme the building of the Temple. 1615 R. Brathwait Strappado (1878) 199 A Prophetesse, Who wrot and spake in verse with such a grace, As she renoumd the Countrey where she was. |
| β 1559 Morwyng Evonym. Pref. a j b, I iudge him not to haue bene the first inuentor of this Art, but one that broughte it to lighte and renouned it. 1595 Munday John a Kent ii. i. (Shaks. Soc. 1851) 20 This resolution dooth renowne ye bothe. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. v. 156 That most famous Towne Which her great Prophet bred who Wales doth so renowne. a 1639 W. Whately Prototypes i. xi. (1640) 142 Those women Gods owne pen hath renowned for gracious and vertuous. 1735 Pope Prol. Sat. 179 The Bard whom pilfer'd Pastorals renown. 1743 A. Hill Wks. (1753) II. 240, I should feel no inclination to condemn your purpose to renown Strand-green. 1815 W. H. Ireland Scribbleom. 260 As a limb of the Bar, I with honour renown 'em. |
| refl. 1592 Nobody & Someb. in Simpson Sch. Shaks. (1878) I. 335 Renowne yourselfe by being kind to her. 1631 May tr. Barclay's Mirr. Mindes ii. 110 They are ambitious to doe strange and wonderfull things, and by them to renowne themselves and their times to Posterity. 1853 Jerdan Autobiog. IV. xiv. 255 Being..in the vein to ‘renown’ myself (using a verb coined at Drummond Castle), I shall [etc.]. |
† b. To report, relate.
Obs. rare—1.
| c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. 283, I have herd renowned of you, that ye were fre and gentyll of hearte. |
† c. To celebrate
with some ceremony.
Obs.—1| 1566 W. Adlington Apuleius 28 This day is alwaies renoumpned with some solempne nouell. |
2. intr. [After G.
renommiren.] Of German students: To seek notoriety; to make a display; to swagger. Also with
it.
| 1825 Blackw. Mag. XVII. 331 The Courlanders have been renowning of late. 1839 Longfellow Hyperion ii. iv. Prose Wks. 1886 II. 92 The student with the sword leaped to the floor. It was Von Kleist. He was renowning it. |
Hence
reˈnowning vbl. n.| 1631 May tr. Barclay's Mirr. Mindes i. 216 To the renowning of their supposed suffrings. 1826 Blackw. Mag. XIX. 550 Among many less justifiable pieces of ‘renowning’ which occurred during my stay, there was one prank [etc.]. |