renown
verbEtymology From Old French renoun (compare with Modern French renom), equivalent to re- + noun.
1
To make famous.
renown
nounCA, US, UK /ɹɪˈnaʊn/
Etymology From Old French renoun (compare with Modern French renom), equivalent to re- + noun.
1
Usually Fame; celebrity; wide recognition.
- She is a theame of honour and renowne, / A ſpurre to valiant and magnanimous deeds, / Whoſe preſent courage may beate downe our foes, / And fame in time to come canonize us, […]c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid. […] (First Quarto), London: […] G[eorge] Eld for R[ichard] Bonian and H[enry] Walley, […], published 1609, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
- And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown: […]1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 16:2:
3 more examples
- […] Nor envy we / Thy great Renown, nor grudge thy Victory; / 'Tis thine, O King, th' Afflicted to redreſs, / And Fame has fill'd the World with thy Succeſs; […]1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, book I, page 3:
- There sleep the mighty dead as in life they slept, warriors and princes of high renown.1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 12: The Cyclops]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:
- […] one day local fame would become world renown […]1985, Lawrence Durrell, chapter 3, in Quinx, New York: Viking, page 63:
2
Obsolete, Usually Reports of nobleness or achievements; praise.
- […] She / Is daughter to this famous Duke of Milan, / Of whom so often I have heard renown, / But never saw before;1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
- Derived terms
- renowner, renownful, renownless, unrenown
- Related terms
- renowned