omertà

== English == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from Italian omertà; further etymology uncertain—the following have been suggested: from Spanish hombredad (“manliness”) (archaic), with the spelling aligned with Sicilian omu (“man”). Hombredad is derived from hombre (“man”) + -edad (variant of -dad (suffix forming nouns denoting a state of being)). However, the expected Sicilian output from a Spanish borrowing would have been *ummirità ~ *ummiritati. from Sicilian umirtà (“humility”) (referring to the Mafia code’s requirement of obedience to the leader), from Latin humilitās (“obedience, submission”), from humilis (“humble; abject, submissive”) + -tās (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns denoting a state of being); with humilis from humus (“floor, ground; earth, soil”) + -ilis (suffix forming an adjective of relation). If so, the English word is a doublet of humility. However, the Oxford English Dictionary takes the view that this is “not well supported by the geographical distribution of the word”. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌəʊmɛːˈtɑː/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˌoʊmɛɹˈtɑ/, /oʊˈməɹtə/, [-ɾə] Rhymes: -ɑː Hyphenation: om‧er‧tà === Noun === omertà (countable and uncountable, plural omertàs) (crime) A code of silence amongst members of the Mafia that forbids divulging insider secrets to law enforcement, often also followed outside of the organization for fear of retaliation. Synonym: Sicilian code Hypernyms: conspiracy of silence, wall of silence (by extension) Any code of silence (especially about something illegal or secret), or refusal to talk openly about something. ==== Alternative forms ==== omerta ==== Translations ==== === References === === Further reading === omertà on Wikipedia.Wikipedia === Anagrams === Moreta, Teramo, amoret, morate == Italian == === Etymology === Borrowed from Neapolitan omertà, from Latin humilitātem. Compare Sicilian umirtà. Doublet of umiltà, a borrowing from Latin. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /o.merˈta/* Rhymes: -a Hyphenation: o‧mer‧tà === Noun === omertà f (invariable) (rare, dialectal, southern Italy) alternative form of umiltà (“humility”) (crime) an omertà or any code of silence Synonym: (wall of silence) reticenza (by extension, derogatory, racist) a form of solidarity among members of a group, consisting in hiding compromising truths; a wall of silence ==== Derived terms ==== omertoso === Further reading === omertà in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana === Anagrams === Teramo, a morte, ormate, remato, remota