famous

the word 'famous' entered english in the late 14th century from the old french 'fameus', which itself derived from the latin 'famosus'. the latin root is 'fama', signifying 'talk, rumor, reputation', a concept that can be traced back to the proto-indo-european root bha-, meaning 'to speak'. the suffix '-ous', from latin '-osus', imparts the meaning 'full of' or 'characterized by'. thus, the literal construction 'full of report or reputation' evolved logically into its modern abstract meaning of being widely known and celebrated.

Structure: fam (reputation) + ous (adjective suffix) fam (from latin 'fama', meaning 'report, rumor, reputation', of proto-indo-european origin). ous (a suffix forming adjectives, from latin '-osus', meaning 'full of, prone to').