lout

Meanings

Noun

• A troublemaker, often violent; a rude violent person; a yob.
• A clownish, awkward fellow; a bumpkin.

Verb

• To treat as a lout or fool; to neglect; to disappoint.
• To bend, bow, stoop.

Origin

• Of dialectal origin, likely from Middle English louten ("to bow, bend low, stoop over") from Old English lutian from Proto-Germanic *lutōną. Cognate with Old Norse lútr, Gothic 𐌻𐌿𐍄𐍉𐌽. Non-Germanic cognates are probably Old Church Slavonic лоудити, Serbo-Croatian lud and Albanian lut.
• From Middle English louten, from Old English lūtan, from Proto-Germanic *lūtaną. Cognate with Old Norse lúta, Danish lude, Norwegian lute, Swedish luta.