"shame" in seven languages
Meaningshame
Spanish
vergüenza
/beɾˈgwenθa/
fem.inherited
French
honte
/ɔ̃t/
fem.other source · Frankish *haunitha 'scorn, disgrace'
Italian
vergogna
/verˈgoɲɲa/
fem.inherited
Portuguese
vergonha
/vehˈɡõɲɐ/
fem.inherited
Romanian
rușine
/ruˈʃine/
fem.other source · of disputed origin
Catalan
vergonya
/bərˈɡoɲə/
fem.inherited
English
shame
/ʃeɪm/
native English · Old English sceamu
English → ItalianshamevergognaNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
VERĒCUNDIAM‘modesty, bashfulness’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Latin shame was a virtue — VERĒCUNDIA, 'modesty' — and Spanish and Italian still use it for embarrassment (¡qué vergüenza!). French took a harsher Frankish word for disgrace.
Learn it
In a sentence
- esMe da vergüenza.
- frJ'ai honte.
- itMi vergogno.
- ptEstou com vergonha.
- roMi-e rușine.
- caEm fa vergonya.
- enI'm ashamed.