coward

See also Coward

English

Etymology

From Old French coart, cuard ( > French couard), from coe (“tail”) + -ard (“pejorative agent noun”); coe is in turn from Latin cauda. The reference seems to be to an animal “turning tail”, or having its tail between its legs, especially a dog.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈkaʊəd/
• (US) IPA: /ˈkaʊɚd/
• Hyphenation: co‧ward
• Homophones: cowered

Noun

coward (plural cowards)

1. A person who lacks courage.
   • 1856: Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part II Chapter IV, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling

     He tortured himself to find out how he could make his declaration to her, and always halting between the fear of displeasing her and the shame of being such a coward, he wept with discouragement and desire. Then he took energetic resolutions, wrote letters that he tore up, put it off to times that he again deferred.

Synonyms

• chicken
• See also Wikisaurus:coward

Derived terms

• cowardly
• cowardice

Translations

a person who lacks courage

• Arabic: جبان (ar) (jabaan) m
• Bulgarian: страхливец (bg) (strahlivec) m
• Catalan: covard (ca)
• Chamicuro: s̈hamle'c̈homa
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 懦夫 (cmn) (nuòfū), 孱头 (cmn) (càn tou)

• Czech: zbabělec (cs) m
• Danish: bangebuks (da) c
• Dutch: lafaard (nl) m
• Estonian: argpüks (et)
• Faroese: bloyta (fo) f, ræðuskítur (fo) m, rædduskítur (fo) m, bløka (fo) f, ónytta (fo) f
• Finnish: pelkuri (fi)
• French: couard (fr)
• Georgian: მშიშარა (ka) (mšišara)
• German: Feigling (de) m, (colloquial) Angsthase (de) m, (slang) Schisser (de) m, Schisserin (de) f
• Greek: δειλός (el) (deilós) m, άνανδρος (el) (ánandros) m
• Haitian Creole: kapon
• Hebrew: פחדן (he) (pakhdan) m, פחדנית (he) (pakhdanyt) f
• Hindi: कायर (hi) (kāyar)
• Hungarian: gyáva (hu)
• Italian: codardo (it), pusillanime (it), vigliacco (it), vile (it)
• Japanese: 臆病者 (ja) (おくびょうもの, okubyōmono)

• Kurdish: tirsok (ku), newêrek (ku), bêcesaret (ku), bêkulek (ku), tirsonek (ku), tirsoke (ku)
• Manx: aggleydagh (gv)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: feiging (nb) m, reddhare (nb) m

  Nynorsk: feiging (nn) m, reddhare (nn) m

• Persian: ترسو (fa), نامرد (fa)
• Polish: tchórz (pl) m
• Portuguese: covarde (pt)
• Romanian: laș (ro) m, lașă (ro) f
• Russian: трус (ru) (trus) m
• Scottish Gaelic: cladhaire (gd) m, gealtaire (gd) m
• Slovak: zbabelec (sk) m
• Spanish: cobarde (es) m and f
• Swedish: fegis (sv), mes (sv) c
• Telugu: పిరికివాడు (te) (pirikivADu)
• Turkish: korkak (tr), ödlek (tr), tabansız (tr)
• Vietnamese: người nhát gan (vi), người nhút nhát (vi)
• Volapük: (male or female) dredöfan (vo), (male) hidredöfan (vo), (female) jidredöfan (vo), (male or female, slang) dredajiedan (vo), (male, slang) dredahijiedan (vo), (female, slang) dredajijiedan (vo)
• Welsh: cachadur (cy) m, cachgi (cy) m, cachwr (cy) m, llwfrgi (cy) m, llyfrgi (cy) m, cilgi (cy) m
• West Frisian: fiich (fy), leffert (fy) c

Adjective

coward (comparative more coward, superlative most coward)

1. Cowardly.
   • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, II.17:

     It is a coward and servile humour, for a man to disguise and hide himselfe under a maske, and not dare to shew himselfe as he is.