Origins
From eche (French for echo) and amende (French for amends, a making-good). The blend suggests an old repayment habit that keeps sounding even when the debt is gone.
Meaning
Echamende is the sudden awareness that our apology is outdated.
We say “sorry” for interrupting, for asking, for taking up space, and then we feel the click of recognition. That reflex was built when our presence often came with collateral damage and we lived close to the next round of amends.
Now the moment is ordinary, and the apology is a ghost payment. We let the sentence end without adding it.
Usage
Echamende is hearing “sorry” start to come out, and realizing I don’t owe it anymore.