Scham

See also: schäm

German

Alternative forms

• Schaam (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle High German schame, from Old High German scama, from Proto-Germanic *skamō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European [Term?]. Compare Dutch schaamte, English shame, Danish skam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃaːm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːm
• Homophone: Charme (some speakers)

Noun

Scham f (genitive Scham, no plural)

1. shame (uncomfortable feeling at one's own impropriety or at the exposure of something private; but not in the sense of disgrace or being dishonored, for which Schande)
2. bashfulness, prudishness, shamefacedness
3. (dated, except in compounds) pubic region including the genitals
4. (dated) vulva

Declension

Declension of Scham [sg-only, feminine]

	singular
	indef.	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Scham
genitive	einer	der	Scham
dative	einer	der	Scham
accusative	eine	die	Scham

Derived terms

• Schambein
• Schambereich
• Schamentzündung
• schamhaft
• schamlos
• beschämen
• Beschämung

Related terms

• schämen

See also

• schade
• Schande

Further reading

• “Scham” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Scham” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Scham” in Duden online
• Scham on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de