English Explanatory Dictionary

caitiff

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A base or despicable person; a wretch.
  2. A captive or prisoner, particularly a galley slave.
  3. A villain, a coward or wretch.
adj
  1. Especially despicable; cowardly

Pronunciation

/ˈkeɪtɪf/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-caitiff.wav

Word forms

caitiff caitiffs catif cative catyve caitive caiteff caitiffe caytiefe caytiffe caytive more caitiff most caitiff

Etymology

From Middle English caitif, from Anglo-Norman caitif (“captive”), akin to Old French chaitif (French chétif) and Middle Dutch keytyf, from a Vulgar Latin *cactīvus alteration via Gaulish influence from Latin captīvus (“captive”); compare Italian cattivo (“bad, wicked”). Doublet of captive.

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on C Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary