poltroon - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

pol·troon

Audio Help [pol-troon] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	a wretched coward; craven.

–adjective

2.	marked by utter cowardice.

[Origin: 1520–30; earlier pultrowne, pultron, poultroone < MF poultron < OIt poltrone idler, coward, deriv. of poltro foal < VL *pulliter, deriv. of L pullus young animal; see foal

]

—Related forms

pol·troon·er·y, noun

pol·troon·ish, adjective

pol·troon·ish·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 1. dastard.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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poltroon

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

pol·troon Audio Help (pŏl-trōōn') Pronunciation Key
n. A base coward: "Every moment of the fashion industry's misery is richly deserved by the designers . . . and magazine poltroons who perpetuate this absurd creation" (Nina Totenberg).

[French poltron, from Old Italian poltrone, coward, idler, perhaps augmentative of poltro, unbroken colt (from Vulgar Latin *pulliter, from Latin pullus, young animal; see pau-¹ in Indo-European roots) or from poltro, bed, lazy.]

pol·troon'er·y n.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
poltroon

"spiritless coward," 1529, from M.Fr. poultron "rascal, coward," from It. poltrone "lazy fellow, coward," apparently from *poltro "couch, bed" (cf. Milanese polter, Venetian poltrona "couch"), perhaps from a Gmc. source (cf. O.H.G. polstar "pillow," see bolster).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

poltroon
adjective
1.	characterized by complete cowardliness
noun
1.	an abject coward

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Poltroon

Bol"ster\, n. [AS. bolster; akin to Icel. b?lstr, Sw. & Dan. bolster, OHG. bolstar, polstar, G. polster; from the same root as E. bole stem, bowl hollow vessel. Cf. Bulge, Poltroon.]

1. A long pillow or cushion, used to support the head of a person lying on a bed; -- generally laid under the pillows.

And here I'll fling the pillow, there the bolster, This way the coverlet, another way the sheets. --Shak.

2. A pad, quilt, or anything used to hinder pressure, support any part of the body, or make a bandage sit easy upon a wounded part; a compress.

This arm shall be a bolster for thy head. --Gay.

3. Anything arranged to act as a support, as in various forms of mechanism, etc.

4. (Saddlery) A cushioned or a piece part of a saddle.

5. (Naut.) (a) A cushioned or a piece of soft wood covered with tarred canvas, placed on the trestletrees and against the mast, for the collars of the shrouds to rest on, to prevent chafing. (b) Anything used to prevent chafing.

6. A plate of iron or a mass of wood under the end of a bridge girder, to keep the girder from resting directly on the abutment.

7. A transverse bar above the axle of a wagon, on which the bed or body rests.

8. The crossbeam forming the bearing piece of the body of a railway car; the central and principal cross beam of a car truck.

9. (Mech.) the perforated plate in a punching machine on which anything rests when being punched.

10. (Cutlery) (a) That part of a knife blade which abuts upon the end of the handle. (b) The metallic end of a pocketknife handle. --G. Francis.

11. (Arch.) The rolls forming the ends or sides of the Ionic capital. --G. Francis.

12. (Mil.) A block of wood on the carriage of a siege gun, upon which the breech of the gun rests when arranged for transportation.

Note: [See Illust. of Gun carriage.]

Bolster work (Arch.), members which are bellied or curved outward like cushions, as in friezes of certain classical styles.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Poltroon

Pol*troon"\, n. [F. poltron, from It. poltrone an idle fellow, sluggard, coward, poltro idle, lazy, also, bed, fr. OHG. polstar, bolstar, cushion, G. polster, akin to E. bolster. See Bolster.] An arrant coward; a dastard; a craven; a mean-spirited wretch. --Shak.

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