COWARD


Meaning of COWARD in English

I. ˈkau̇](ə)rd, ]əd noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English coward, cuard, from Old French coart, cuart, adj & noun, from coe, coue tail (from Latin cauda ) + -art -ard; from the idea of a coward retreating to the tail end of an army, or from the idea of a frightened animal with its tail between its legs

: one who shows ignoble fear : a basely timid, easily frightened, and easily daunted person

a coward , irresolute, impulsive in any crisis — Walter de la Mare

is an arrant coward and shows the white feather at the slightest display of pluck in his antagonist — John Burroughs

II. adjective

Etymology: Middle English coward, cuard, from Old French coart, cuart, adjective & noun

1.

a. : having or arising from a coward's nature : timid , fainthearted , cowardly

that craven coward knight — Edmund Spenser

neither altogether coward nor brave — John Reed

b. : of or characteristic of a coward or cowardice

coward cries

coward deceit

2. heraldry : borne in the escutcheon with his tail doubled between his legs

a lion coward

Synonyms: see cowardly

III. transitive verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

Etymology: Middle English cowarden, from coward (I)

obsolete : to make timorous : frighten : cause to show cowardice

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.