Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PU'DEN-CY, n. [L. pudens, pudeo, to blush or be ashamed; Ar. عَبَدَ abada, to worship, to prostrate one's self, to cast down, to subdue, to be ashamed, or Ch. בהת, to blush. Qu. Heb. בוש, in a different dialect. The first is the more probable affinity. Class Bd, No. 11, 26.]

Modesty; shamefacedness. – Shak.