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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary Cow·ard Sir Noël Peirce 1899-1973 English actor & dramatist cow·ard ETYMOLOGY Middle English, from Anglo-French cuard, from cue, coe tail, from Latin cauda DATE 13th century : one who shows disgraceful fear or timidity • coward adjective English Etymology coward early 13c., from O.Fr . coart, from coe "tail," from L. coda, dialectal variant of cauda "tail," of uncertain origin + -ard, an agentnoun suffix denoting one that carries on some action or possesses some quality, with derogatory connotation (see -ard). The word probably reflects an animal metaphoric sense still found in expressions like turning tail and tail between legs. Coart was the name of the hare in http://O.Fr O.Fr . versions of "Reynard the Fox." As a surname (attested from 1255) it represents O.E. cuhyrde "cow-herd.""Cowardice, as distinguished from panic, is almost always simply a lack of ability to suspend the functioning of the imagination." [Ernest Hemingway, "Men at War," 1942]http://O.Fr An O.E. word for "cowardly" was earg, which also meant "slothful." Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7 coward cow·ard / 5kauEd; NAmE -Erd / noun (disapproving)a person who is not brave or who does not have the courage to do things that other people do not think are especially difficult 胆小鬼；懦夫；胆怯者: You coward! What are you afraid of? 你这胆小鬼！你怕什么呢？ I'm a real coward when it comes to going to the dentist. 我一去看牙医就胆战心惊。 • cow·ard·ly adj.: a cowardly attack on a defenceless man 欺负一个没有自衞能力的人的不光彩行为 Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English coward noun VERB + COWARD brand sb, call sb, label sb He was branded a coward in some newspapers. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus-11th Edition n. Function: noun one who shows or yields to ignoble fear FF1C;a treacherous coward who betrayed his friends to save his own skinFF1E; Synonyms: chicken, craven, dastard, funk, funker, poltroon, quitter, yellowbelly Related Words: baby, fraidycat, invertebrate, jellyfish, milksop, scaredy-cat; caitiff, recreant Contrasted Words: gallant, hero, palladin, stalwart; ideal, model, pattern, standard n. Function: adjective Synonyms: COWARDLY , ||chicken, craven, gutless, lily-livered, poltroonish, poor-spirited, pusillanimous, spunkless, unmanlyWebster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged cow·ard 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 |
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