fame

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂-
2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰéh₂meh₂
3. Proto-Italic*fāmā
4. Latinfāma
5. Old Frenchfame
6. Middle Englishfame
7. English todayfame

From Middle English fame, from Old French fame (“celebrity, renown”), itself borrowed from Latin fāma (“talk, rumor, report, reputation”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéh₂-meh₂, from *bʰeh₂- (“to speak, say, tell”). Cognate with Ancient Greek φήμη (phḗmē, “talk”). 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”). More at ban. Displaced native Old English hlīsa.

Words from the same roots