coward

• n. 臆病者、臆病者
• adj.臆病な、臆病な
• n.(臆病な)人名;(英)Coward

ラテン語のcauda「尾」から。語源的にはcoda「行列」と同じ。もともとは、尻尾を股の間に挟んで逃げる動物のことだったが、後に臆病な人のことを指すようになった。

coward

coward: [13] Etymologically, a coward seems to be ‘someone who runs away with his tail between his legs’. It comes from Old French cuard, which was based on *cōda, the Vulgar Latin descendant of Latin cauda ‘tail’. (The apparently similar cower [13] is no relation, coming from Middle Low German *kūren ‘lie in wait’.)

coward (n.)

mid-13c., from Old French coart "coward" (no longer the usual word in French, which has now in this sense poltron, from Italian, and lache), from coe "tail," from Latin coda, popular dialect variant of cauda "tail," which is of uncertain origin + -ard, an agent noun 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 Old French versions of "Reynard the Fox." Italian codardo, Spanish cobarde are from French.

The identification of coward & bully has gone so far in the popular consciousness that persons & acts in which no trace of fear is to be found are often called coward(ly) merely because advantage has been taken of superior strength or position .... [Fowler]

As a surname (attested from 1255) it represents Old English cuhyrde "cow-herd." Farmer has coward's castle "a pulpit," "Because a clergyman may deliver himself therefrom without fear of contradiction or argument."

1. She shot to stardom on Broadway in a Noel Coward play.

彼女はブロードウェイでノエル?コワードのシーンに出演したことで人気になった。

2.He 's a coward and a bully who confuses physical strength with manhood.

彼は臆病者で、力強さと男らしさの区別がつかない強靭な人だ。

3."You 're a coward ，"Mark said very plainly and soberly.

マークは非常に率直で厳粛に「臆病者だ」と言った。

4.I don 't want to see you ever again，you coward ！「

二度とあなたのこの Coward ！」

5.She was a rotten coward .

彼女は嫌な臆病者だ。