It is the Castilian form for the name given by the Sicilian mafia to the "law of silence", supposed code of honor that punishes with death the cascittuni, who informs or betrays matters of the organization, especially if they are criminal and does so to the police. In Italian it is omertà, and its origin is disputed; it can be a version of the Neapolitan 'umertà' ("humility") or the Spanish 'hombredad' ("virility, manhood").