famoso

Famoso is an adjective used in several Romance languages, notably Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, to indicate that someone or something is widely known or celebrated. In everyday usage, it ranges from “well known” or “renowned” to occasional informal senses of “notorious” depending on language and context.

Etymology: the word derives from Latin famosus, meaning famed or celebrated, from fama, fame or rumor. Through Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese it entered each language with a similar basic meaning but with distinct nuances in usage and connotation.

Usage by language: In Italian and Portuguese, famoso generally conveys a positive or neutral sense of prominence, as in una persona famosa or um artista famoso. In Spanish, fama can carry both positive and negative associations; famoso can mean famous in a neutral sense but can also imply notoriety in contexts such as un criminal famoso or una persona famosa por sus escándalos.

Form and usage: The term is used as a standard adjective and is lowercase in running text, with capitalization only at the beginning of a sentence or in titles. It agrees with the noun in gender and number, as in persona famosa (Spanish), persona famosa (Italian), or pessoa famosa (Portuguese). The related noun is fame, expressed as fama in Spanish and Italian, and fama in Portuguese as well.

See also: Fame, Notoriety, Etymology of fame.