dastard

Meanings

Noun

• A malicious coward; a dishonorable sneak.

Adjective

• Meanly shrinking from danger, cowardly, dastardly.

Verb

• To dastardize.

Origin

• From Middle English dastard ("a dullard"), most likely formed from *dast, a base derived from Old Norse dæstr ("exhausted, breathless") -ard. Compare Icelandic dasaður ("exhausted"), dialectal Swedish däst ("weary"), Middle Dutch dasaert, daasaardt, English dazed ("stupefied").