- cowardly (adj.)
[cowardly 词源字典]
- 1550s, from coward + -ly (1). The adverb (late 14c.) is much older than the adjective:
Yit had I levir do what I may Than here to dye thus cowerdelye ["Le Morte d'Arthur," c. 1450]
An Old English word for "cowardly" was earg, which also meant "slothful." Related: Cowardliness.[cowardly etymology, cowardly origin, 英语词源]