Etymograph

English

shameful

Shameful comes from Middle English schameful ‘Modest, humble’, from Old English sċamu ‘shame, embarrassment’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skamō.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skamō‘shame’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skamu‘shame’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċamu‘shame, embarrassment’
  4. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150sċeomfull‘modest, chaste’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schameful‘Modest, humble’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2009shameful

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skamō‘shame’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skamu‘shame’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċamu‘shame, embarrassment’
  4. Old English, derivedc. 450–1150sċeomfull‘modest, chaste’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schameful‘Modest, humble’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2009shameful

Earliest quotation: 2009, Gareth Lewis: “They have turned a great old English institution into…”

Formed from shame + -ful

Proto-Germanic *skamō

Proto-West Germanic *skamu

Old English sċamu ‘shame’

Middle English schame ‘modesty’

English shame

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- ‘dark(ness)’

scene, scenario, shadow, obscure, shade, squirrel, scenic, scotia, hoar, skene, 31 more

Today it means

adj Causing or meriting shame or disgrace; disgraceful

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *skamō / shameful

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