Etymologically
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shame

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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