Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An issue arousing widespread controversy or heated public debate.
- noun A celebrated legal case.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
issue orincident (originally, alegal case) arousing widespreadcontroversy orpublic debate .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[French : cause, case + célèbre, celebrated.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From French cause ("cause, case") + célèbre ("famous"), in the title of a famous 18-century compilation of famous legal cases, Nouvelles Causes Célèbres.
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Examples
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kirstenio commented on the word cause célèbre
thanks for the accented version :)
December 7, 2006
seanahan commented on the word cause célèbre
That is an impressively accented word.
December 7, 2006