omertà

Meaning

Noun

• A code of silence amongst members of a criminal organization (especially the Mafia) that forbids divulging insider secrets to law enforcement, often also followed outside of the organization in fear of retaliation; extensively, any code of silence.

Origin

• From Italian omertà – even though a further etymology is disputed – italianization of Sicilian umirtà (“the quality of being humble, quiet, soft”). Some see it as a southern dialectal variant of umiltà, from Latin humilitās, from humilis, from humus, in which case it is a humility. Other sources (as the OED) interpret it as a Sicilian calque (loan translation) of Spanish hombredad ("manliness"), altered to fit Sicilian omu ("man"); in this latter case though “ummirità” should be the natural phonological output.