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abash

 - 3 dictionary results

a⋅bash

  [uh-bash]
Use abash in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
to destroy the self-confidence, poise, or self-possession of; disconcert; make ashamed or embarrassed: to abash someone by sneering.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME abaishen < dial. OF abacher, OF abaissier to put down, bring low (see abase ), perh. conflated with AF abaiss-, long s. of abair, OF esba(h)ir to gape, marvel, amaze (es- ex- 1 + -ba(h)ir, alter. of baer to open wide, gape < VL *batāre; cf. bay 2 , bay 3 )

Related forms:
a⋅bash⋅ment, noun

Synonyms:
shame, discompose, embarrass.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To abash
a·bash   (ə-bāsh')   
tr.v.   a·bashed, a·bash·ing, a·bash·es
To make ashamed or uneasy; disconcert. See Synonyms at embarrass.

[Middle English abaishen, to lose one's composure, from Old French esbahir, esbahiss- : es-, intensive pref. (from Latin ex-; see ex-) + baer, to gape; see bay2.]
a·bash'ment n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

abash 
c.1303, from O.Fr. esbaiss-, stem of esbaer "gape with astonishment," from es "out" + ba(y)er "to be open, gape," from L. *batare "to yawn, gape," from root *bat, possibly imitative of yawning. Bashful is 16c. derivative.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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