lily-livered

English

Etymology

The first known uses of lily-livered are in William Shakespeare’s works written c. 1603–1606; see quotations below. From the medieval belief that the liver was the seat of courage, and the pale color of the lily flower. A person who had no blood in their liver would have no courage and would thus be a coward. Equivalent to lily +‎ livered.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

Adjective

lily-livered (comparative more lily-livered, superlative most lily-livered)

1. (idiomatic) Cowardly, lacking courage.
   • c. 1603–1606 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] His True Chronicle Historie of the Life and Death of King Lear and His Three Daughters. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Nathaniel Butter, […], published 1608, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], signature E, recto:

     Stew[ard],^[sic] What doſt thou know me for? / Kent. […] [A] lilly lyuer'd action taking knaue, […] one that would'ſt bee a baud in way of good ſeruice, and art nothing but the compoſition of a knaue, begger, coward, pander, and the ſonne and heire of a mungrell bitch, […]

   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 149, column 1:

     Go pricke thy face, and ouer-red thy feare / Thou Lilly-liuer'd Boy.

   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Conversations”, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume II, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:

     But as for that lily-livered sneak—that poor lyin' swindlin' cringin' cur of a Clavering—who stands in my shoes—stands in my shoes, hang him!

   • 2016, Pokémon Sun and Moon, Hapu to Lillie:

     Ho! Then you do your best, Lillie. No one could call you lily-livered!

Synonyms

• white-livered

Derived terms

• lily-liveredly

Translations

cowardly — see also cowardly

• Bulgarian: страхлив (bg) (strahliv), малодушен (bg) (malodušen)
• Dutch: laf (nl), lafhartig (nl)
• French: poltron (fr)
• Russian: трусли́вый (ru) (truslívyj)
• Ukrainian: боягу́зливий (uk) (bojahúzlyvyj)