The story
- Old English · inherited fromsċamfæst“modest”
- Middle English · inherited fromschamefast
- English todayshamefaced
Alteration (due to folk etymology: shame + faced) of shamefast, from Middle English schamefast, schamfast, sceomefest, from Old English sċamfæst (“modest”), equivalent to shame + fast. Synchronically with -faced (/ˈfeɪst/).
Words from the same roots
Middle Englishschamefast all →
shamefast
Old Englishsċamfæst all →
shamefast
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.