Honor

Today’s Spanish word of the day is “honor”.

It won’t come as a surprise that it means “honor”! Like in English, the h in Spanish “honor” is silent, but the stress is on the second syllable.

Like in English, there are a few common phrases using the word “honor” in Spanish. These include the following:

• Tener el honor de – To have the honor of
• Hacer honor a – To live up to (literally “to do honor to”)
• Hacer los honores – To do the honors (for example serving drinks as a host/hostess)

The word “honor” comes from Latin honor, which had a similar meaning to the word today.

Honor vs. honra

Confusingly, Spanish has two words that can be translated as “honor”: “honor” and “honra”. Both come from the same Latin root, and can be used interchangeably sometimes, but have slightly different “flavors”.

The concept of honor was important in the Middle Ages and the Spanish Golden Age (Siglo de Oro). The word “honra” is frequently used in literary texts from this period such as Don Quixote, where it’s associated with social standing and reputation. Losing one’s “honra” meant losing respect in society.

The word “honor” is associated more with internal moral integrity, regardless of societal reputation. It’s also used to describe things that are a privilege or represent some kind of recognition of distinction, such as meeting someone or receiving an award. For example, you could say “es un honor conocerte” (“it’s an honor to meet you”), but not “es una honra conocerte”.

Here’s a quick summary of the differences:

• Honor – Can refer to internal moral integrity and ethical principles, or a privilege or distinction.
• Honra – Refers to societal reputation, or how others perceive your dignity and virtue.

Example sentences