shame

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʃeɪm/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English shame, scheome,^[2] inherited from Old English sċeamu (“feeling of guilt or disgrace; dishonour; modesty”),^[3][2][4] from Proto-Germanic *skamō,^[3][2][4] also the source of Old Saxon skama, Old Norse skǫmm, Dutch schaamte and German Scham,^[3][2][5] a word of unknown etymology.^[3] Barnhart finds no root of corresponding form and sense outside Germanic;^[2] Etymonline's best guess is Proto-Indo-European *skem-, from *kem- “to cover”, covering oneself being a common expression of shame.^[3] The same base formed Old English sċand and German Schande “disgrace”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The painful emotion arising from consciousness of something dishonourable: about 725 in the OED.^[6] The verb, to feel shame: also about 725 in Barnhart, in Beowulf, and about 897 in the OED.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Disgrace or loss of reputation is from before 990,^[6] and a piece of disgrace from about 1230.^[6] Put to shame is from the mid-13th century,^[3] and the interjection for shame! by about 1300.^[3] Modesty, regard for decency, is from about 1300,^[3][4] while a thing or person that one should be ashamed of dates from the 1580s.^[3] In Middle English shame could also mean the private parts.^[3] The transitive verb, to make ashamed, is from late Old English,^[3] and “to cover with reproach” by the 1520s.^[3] Shamefaced is an alteration of shamefast, “modest”, by association with face.^[4] Greek distinguished shame as disgrace, aiskhynē, from shame as modesty, aidōs.^[3] Shame culture is attested by 1947.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 725 – the emotion of shame; verb.^[6][2]
• a. 990 – disgrace.^[6]
• mid-13th century – put to shame.^[3]
• c. 1300 – modesty, and for shame!.^[3]
• 1520s – verb, to make ashamed.^[3]
• 1580s – a person to be ashamed of.^[3]
• 1947 – shame culture.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A painful feeling of guilt, embarrassment or disgrace.
2. The capacity to feel this: have you no shame?
3. Disgrace or dishonour.
4. A person or thing that brings disgrace.
5. A regrettable or unfortunate thing: what a shame!

Verb

1. To make someone feel ashamed.
2. To bring disgrace on.
3. To outdo by being better: her effort shamed us all.
4. To force by making ashamed: shamed into apologizing.

Word family

• shamable
• shamably
• shamefaced
• shamefast
• shameful
• shameless
• ashamed
• unshamed

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press