pudor

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pudor (“sense of modesty or shame”), from pudet (“it shames”), as is pudency (via pudentia).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpjuːdɔː/, /ˈpjuːdər/

Noun

pudor (uncountable)

1. An appropriate sense of modesty or shame.
   • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses:

     Woman, undoing with sweet pudor her belt of rushrope, offers her allmoist yoni to man’s lingam.

Translations

appropriate sense of modesty or shame

• Catalan: pudor (ca) m
• Dutch: pudeur (nl)
• Esperanto: hontemo
• French: pudeur (fr)
• Greek: αιδώς (el) f (aidós)
• Hungarian: szemérmesség (hu)
• Latin: pudor m
• Portuguese: pudor (pt) m
• Spanish: pudor (es) m

Anagrams

• Proud, pour'd, proud

Catalan

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin pudōrem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [puˈðor]

Noun

pudor m (plural pudors)

1. shame

   Synonym: vergonya

2. modesty

Related terms

• impudor
• puda
• pudend
• pudent
• pudibund
• púdic
• pudir
• púdol
• pudorós
• pútid

Etymology 2

From Latin pūtōrem. First attested in the 14th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [puˈðo]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [puˈðoɾ]

Noun

pudor f (plural pudors)

1. stench, malodor

Further reading

• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “pudor”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Latin

Etymology

From pudet (“it shames”) +‎ -or.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈpʊ.dɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈpuː.dor]

Noun

pudor m (genitive pudōris); third declension

1. A sense of shame; shamefacedness, shyness; ignominy, disgrace; humiliation

   Synonym: verēcundia

   • 8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 5.593–594:

     Parthe, refers aquilās, vīctōs quoque porrigis arcūs:
     pignora iam nostrī nūlla pudōris habēs.

     Parthian, you are returning the eagles, you are extending the vanquished bows as well: Now you have no tokens of our shame.
     (See: Phraates V; Aquila (Roman).)

2. Modesty, decency, propriety, scrupulousness, shame, chastity; also, these qualities or behaviors personified as “Shame”, “Modesty”, etc.
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 4.24-27:

     “Sed mihi vel tellūs optem prius īmā dēhīscat,
     vel Pater omnipotēns adigat mē fulmine ad umbrās,
     pallentīs umbrās Erebī noctemque profundam,
     ante, Pudor, quam tē violō, aut tua iūra resolvō.”

     “But first I would pray — either that deepest earth gape open for me, or the Father almighty hurl me with his thunderbolt to the shades, the pallid shades and boundless night of Erebus — sooner than I violate you, [my sense of] Shame, or unbind your laws.”
     (For an analysis of “Pudor” in this context, see: Gildenhard, I., [2012], Virgil, Aeneid 4.1–299, Open Book Publishers, pp. 73-75. Translations vary – Mackail, 1885: “mine honour”; Mandelbaum, 1971: “Shame”; Fitzgerald, 1981: “O chaste life”; West, 1990: “my conscience”; Lombardo, 2005: “O Modesty”.)

3. A blush

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	pudor	pudōrēs
genitive	pudōris	pudōrum
dative	pudōrī	pudōribus
accusative	pudōrem	pudōrēs
ablative	pudōre	pudōribus
vocative	pudor	pudōrēs

Derived terms

• impudens
• impudenter
• impudentia
• impudicitia
• pudendum
• pudendus
• pudens
  • pudenter
• pudibundus
• pudicitia
• pudōrātus
• pudōricolor
• pudōrōsus

Related terms

• pudēfactus
• pudēns
• pudenter
• pudescit
• pudet
• pudibilis
• pudibundus
• pudīcē
• pudīcitia
• pudīcus

Descendants

• Catalan: pudor
• English: pudor
• French: pudeur
• Italian: pudore
• Portuguese: pudor
• Romanian: pudoare
• Spanish: pudor

References

• “pudor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “pudor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "pudor", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “pudor”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin pudōrem.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /puˈdoʁ/ [puˈdoh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /puˈdoʁ/ [puˈdoh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /puˈdoɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /puˈdoʁ/ [puˈdoχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /puˈdoɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /puˈdoɾ/ [puˈðoɾ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /puˈdoɾ/ [puˈðoɾ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /puˈdo.ɾi/ [puˈðo.ɾi]

• Rhymes: (Portugal, São Paulo) -oɾ, (Brazil) -oʁ
• Hyphenation: pu‧dor

Noun

pudor m (plural pudores)

1. pudor (appropriate sense of modesty or shame)

Further reading

• “pudor”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “pudor”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /puˈdoɾ/ [puˈð̞oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: pu‧dor

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin pudōrem.

Noun

pudor m (plural pudores)

1. shame

   Synonym: vergüenza

2. modesty

   Synonym: modestia

Related terms

• pudoroso

Etymology 2

Inherited from Latin pūtōrem.

Noun

pudor m (plural pudores)

1. stench, malodor, fetidness (bad smell)

   Synonyms: hedor, hediondez

Related terms

• pudir

Further reading

• “pudor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025