Myths & disputes

embarrass

To embarrass was first to tie up or block: Portuguese embaraçar 'entangle' is built on baraça 'cord, noose', and the verb passed through Spanish and French into English, where the sense 'make someone feel awkward' arrived only around 1800.

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The story you may have heard

Wiktionary's Portuguese entry derives baraça from Arabic marasa 'rope', and further from Syriac maršā and Akkadian markasu, which made 'embarrass' look Semitic. Standard references (Corominas, DECat) call baraça of unknown, probably pre-Roman, origin; the Arabic route needs an unexplained m- to b- change and lacks the al- article that early Arabic loans usually carry.

The road to English

From Old Spanish to Spanish

1130Portuguese

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

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