 The Spanish word likely comes from the Portuguese "embaraçar" (used in the same context of English "embarrassment"), which probably is a combination of the prefix "em-" (from Latin "in-" for "in-") with "baraça" "a noose", or "rope", which makes sense with the synonym "encinta" ("on noose, on rope" because of the old usage of women to wear a strap of cloth on their dresses when pregnant).