Feelings and character in Portuguese

The twentieth entry is tímido, and the English word standing beside it is not the one to reach for. Both descend from Latin timidus, built on timere, to fear, and both languages took it from books rather than from speech. English, though, already had a word of its own for the social half of the idea. « Shy » is Germanic, old and entirely everyday, and it held that ground long before timidus arrived, so « timid » was left with the fear and nothing else. A timid person in English lacks nerve — a timid answer, a timid reform, a timid animal that will not come near — and the word carries a small reproach every time it is used. Tímido carries none. It is the plain, kind, ordinary word for somebody who says little among strangers and needs a moment before speaking, which is exactly what é tímido, mas fala bem reports. Portuguese sends the fear to other words, medroso and cobarde, and neither would ever appear here. So render tímido as « shy », and save « timid » for medroso.