fama

See also: Appendix:Variations of "fama"

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fama, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂-mā-, from *bʰeh₂- (“to speak”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈfa.mə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈfa.ma]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Noun

fama f (plural fames)

1. fame

References

• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “fama”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Chickasaw

Etymology

Compare Choctaw fama.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fa.ma/

Verb

fama

1. (stative, intransitive) to be whipped

Inflection

Class II Verb Subjects (Stative)

Verbs beginning with a consonant.	Singular	Plural	Inclusive Tri-Plural
1st-person (I, we)	safama sa-fama	pofama po-fama	hapofama hapo-fama
2nd-person (you, you all)	chifama chi-fama	hachifama hachi-fama
3rd-person (he, she, it, they)	fama	(hoo)fama (hoo-)fama

Derived terms

• afama
• fahá̱ma
• fammi
• ibaafama
• ishfamaꞌ
• issobishfamaꞌ
• i̱fama

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfama/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ama
• Syllabification: fa‧ma

Adjective

fama (accusative singular faman, plural famaj, accusative plural famajn)

1. famous

Related terms

• bonfama
• bonfamo
• fame
• famigi
• famiĝi
• famo
• famulo
• fifama
• senfama

Further reading

• “fama”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “fama”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fāma, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂-mā-, from *bʰeh₂- (“to speak”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfa.ma/
• Rhymes: -ama
• Hyphenation: fà‧ma

Noun

fama f (plural fame)

1. fame, renown

   Synonyms: celebrità, notorietà

2. reputation, name

   Synonyms: reputazione, nome

3. report, rumor

Derived terms

• famigerato

Further reading

• fama in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Jamamadí

Numeral

fama

1. (Banawá) two

References

• 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *fāmā, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéh₂meh₂, from *bʰeh₂- (“to speak”). Cognate to Ancient Greek φήμη (phḗmē, “talk”).

Pronunciation

• fāma:
  • (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈfaː.ma]
  • (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈfaː.ma]
• fāmā:
  • (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈfaː.maː]
  • (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈfaː.ma]

Noun

fāma f (genitive fāmae); first declension

1. fame

   Synonyms: indicium, nūntius, notitia

2. rumour, talk, opinion, report
   • c. 195 BCE, Plautus, Trinummus 1.2.149:

     hascine propter rēs maledicās fāmās ferunt.

     Is it on account of these things that they spread slanderous reports?

   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.532–533:

     “Oenōtrī coluēre virī; nunc fāma minōrēs
     Ītaliam dīxisse ducīs dē nōmine gentem.”

     “Oenotrian men tilled [the land]; now rumor [has it that their] descendants call the nation ‘Italy’ after the name of its leader, [Italus].”

3. reputation

   Dīmīcantī dē fāmā dēesse.

   To abandon one whose reputation is attacked.

   • 43 BCE – c. 17 CE, Ovidius, Heroides 17.17, (translation Benham's Book of Quotations 1948):

     Fāma tamen clāra est; et adhūc sine crīmine vīxī.

     My good name is nevertheless unstained; and so far I have lived without blame.

   • 61 CE – c. 112 CE, Plinius Minor, Epistulae 3.20.9:

     Multī fāmam, conscientiam paucī verentur.

     Many fear their reputation, few their conscience.

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	fāma	fāmae
genitive	fāmae	fāmārum
dative	fāmae	fāmīs
accusative	fāmam	fāmās
ablative	fāmā	fāmīs
vocative	fāma	fāmae

Derived terms

• Fāma
• īnfāmis

Descendants

• → Albanian: famë
• Asturian: fama
• Catalan: fama
• Dutch: faam
• English: fame
• French: fameux
• Galician: fama
• Italian: fama
• Mirandese: fama
• Old French: fame
• Piedmontese: fama
• → Polish: fama
• Portuguese: fama
• Romanian: faimă
• Spanish: fama

Noun

fāmā

1. ablative singular of fāma

References

• “fama”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “fama”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to be able to endure hunger and thirst: famis et sitis patientem esse
    
  • report says; people say: rumor, fama, sermo est or manat
    
  • a rumour is prevalent: rumor, fama viget
    
  • a report is spreading imperceptibly: fama serpit (per urbem)
    
  • to spread a rumour: famam dissipare
    
  • to know from hearsay: auditione et fama accepisse aliquid
    
  • to gain distinction: gloriam, famam sibi comparare
    
  • to detract from a person's reputation, wilfully underestimate a person: de gloria, fama alicuius detrahere
    
  • to detract from a person's reputation, wilfully underestimate a person: alicuius famam, laudem imminuere
    
  • to render obscure, eclipse a person: obscurare alicuius gloriam, laudem, famam (not obscurare aliquem)
    
  • to have regard for one's good name: famae servire, consulere
    
  • to live up to one's reputation: famam ante collectam tueri, conservare
    
  • to gain the reputation of cruelty: famam crudelitatis subire (Catil. 4. 6. 12)
    
  • to leave a great reputation behind one: magnam sui famam relinquere
    

Polish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Latin fāmalbor.

Polish fama

Learned borrowing from Latin fāma. Doublet of fejm.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfa.ma/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ama
• Syllabification: fa‧ma

Noun

fama f

1. renown, rumour

   Synonym: pogłoska

Declension

Declension of fama

	singular
nominative	fama
genitive	famy
dative	famie
accusative	famę
instrumental	famą
locative	famie
vocative	famo

Further reading

• “fama”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “fama”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)

Portuguese

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese fama, from Latin fāma, from Proto-Indo-European *bheh₂-mā-, from *bheh₂- (“to speak”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfɐ̃.mɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfɐ̃.mɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈfɐ.ma/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈfɐ.mɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈfɐ.mɐ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈfa.mɐ/

• Audio (Brazil (Caipira)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɐmɐ
• Hyphenation: fa‧ma

Noun

fama f (plural famas)

1. fame

   Ele entrou para o hall da fama.

   He entered the hall of fame.

2. reputation

   Synonym: reputação

   Esse homem tem má fama.

   That man has a bad reputation.

Related terms

• famoso

Further reading

• “fama”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “fama”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish fama, probably a semi-learned borrowing from Latin fāma (partly due to phonetic reasons: initial f did not become h, and because it preserved the Latin sense perfectly; additionally its derivatives are also learned), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bheh₂-mā-, from *bheh₂- (“to speak”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfama/ [ˈfa.ma]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ama
• Syllabification: fa‧ma

Noun

fama f (plural famas)

1. fame
2. reputation

   Synonym: reputación

Derived terms

• buena fama
• mala fama
• salón de la fama

Related terms

• famoso

Further reading

• “fama”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Welsh

Alternative forms

• fyma, mama

Adverb

fama

1. (colloquial) informal form of y fan yma (“here”)

Derived terms

• draw fama (“over here”)

Related terms

• fanna (“there”)