English

renown

Renown comes from Old French renoun ‘reputation’, from nom ‘name’, and ultimately from Hittite ḫannaⁱ- ‘to sue, judge’.

Hittitemodernḫannaⁱ-¹transliterated*cuneiform ḫannaⁱ-, a transliteration; the original signs are in Wiktionary‘to sue, judge’
Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁nómn̥²‘name’reconstructed
Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nōmn̥²‘name’reconstructed
Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnōmen³
Old Frenchc. 842–1400nom⁴as noun‘name’
Old Frenchc. 842–1400renoun⁵‘reputation’
Englishearliest quotation c. 1602renown⁵

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

¹ Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥
² Wiktionary, Latin nomen
³ Wiktionary, Old French nom
⁴ Wiktionary, Old French renoun
⁵ Wiktionary, English renown
Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1602, William Shakespeare: “She is a theame of honour and renowne, /…”.

Lineage

Hittitemodernḫannaⁱ-1Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥transliterated*cuneiform ḫannaⁱ-, a transliteration; the original signs are in Wiktionary‘to sue, judge’
Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁nómn̥2Wiktionary, Latin nomen‘name’reconstructed
Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nōmn̥2Wiktionary, Latin nomen‘name’reconstructed
Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnōmen3Wiktionary, Old French nom
Old Frenchc. 842–1400nom4Wiktionary, Old French renounas noun‘name’
Old Frenchc. 842–1400renoun5Wiktionary, English renown‘reputation’
Englishearliest quotation c. 1602renown5Wiktionary, English renown. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1602, William Shakespeare: “She is a theame of honour and renowne, /…”

noun Fame; celebrity; wide recognition.

Sources: Wiktionary, “renown”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥, Latin nomen, Old French nom, Old French renoun. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.