Drag to pan · scroll to zoom
Drag to rotate
Tracing “”…
Where does the word "peccadillo" come from? It comes from Latin peccātum, passing through Spanish before entering English (1590s).
Read the full story
Where does the word "peccadillo" come from? It comes from Latin peccātum, passing through Spanish before entering English (1590s).
Peccadillo’s story begins in Latin: peccātum meant “sin.” A sin, from 'peccāre', to sin. By 1500s, the word had taken hold in Spanish as pecadillo. 'little sin'. It reached English by 1590s as peccadillo. Respelled after the Latin 'pecc-'. Today, peccadillo means a small, relatively unimportant offence or sin.
- Stage 1 · Latin · ancient peccātum "sin", a sin, from 'peccāre', to sin.
- Stage 2 · Spanish · 1500s pecadillo "small sin", 'little sin'.
- Stage 3 · English · 1590s peccadillo "minor fault", respelled after the Latin 'pecc-'.