The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Celebrity \Ce*leb"ri*ty\, n.; pl. Celebrities. [L. celebritas:
   cf. F. c['e]l['e]brit['e].]
   1. Celebration; solemnization. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            The celebrity of the marriage.        --Bacon.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The state or condition of being celebrated; fame; renown;
      as, the celebrity of Washington.
      [1913 Webster]

            An event of great celebrity in the history of
            astronomy.                            --Whewell.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. A person of distinction or renown; -- usually in the
      plural; as, he is one of the celebrities of the place.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

celebrity
    n 1: a widely known person; "he was a baseball celebrity" [syn:
         celebrity, famous person]
    2: the state or quality of being widely honored and acclaimed
       [syn: fame, celebrity, renown] [ant: infamy,
       opprobrium]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

116 Moby Thesaurus words for "celebrity":
   Establishment, PR, VIP, acclaim, ballyhoo, baron, big gun, big man,
   big name, bigwig, blurb, brass, brass hat, bright light,
   center of attraction, character, common knowledge, constellation,
   cry, currency, cynosure, daylight, dignitary, dignity, distinction,
   eclat, elder, eminence, exposure, fame, famousness, father, figure,
   folk hero, galaxy, glare, glory, great man, hero, heroine, hoopla,
   hue and cry, idol, immortal, important person, interests, kudos,
   limelight, lion, lords of creation, luminaries, luminary, magnate,
   mahatma, man of mark, master spirit, maximum dissemination, mogul,
   nabob, name, notability, notable, notoriety, notoriousness,
   panjandrum, person of note, person of renown, personage,
   personality, pillar of society, pleiad, plug, pop hero,
   popular hero, popular idol, popularity, power, power elite,
   press notice, prestige, prominence, public eye, public figure,
   public knowledge, public relations, public report, publicity,
   publicity story, publicness, puff, reclame, recognition, renown,
   rep, report, reputation, repute, ruling circle, sachem,
   social lion, somebody, something, spotlight, star, stardom,
   superstar, the bubble reputation, the great, the top, top brass,
   top people, tycoon, very important person, vogue, worthy,
   write-up