English Explanatory Dictionary

cower

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To crouch or cringe, or to avoid or shy away from something, in fear.
  2. To crouch in general.
  3. To cause to cower; to frighten into submission.
  4. To be a coward; to hide away or refuse to face opposition due to fear.
verb
  1. To cherish with care.

Pronunciation

/ˈkaʊɚ/ /ˈkaʊə/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-cower.wav

Word forms

cower cowers cowering cowered

Etymology

From Middle English couren, cowre, from Middle Low German kûren (“to lie in wait; linger”) or from North Germanic (Icelandic kúra (“to doze”)); according to Pokorny, all are ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to curve, bend”), see also Proto-Germanic *kuddô (“shell, pod”). Cognate with German kauern (“to squat”), Dutch koeren (“to keep watch (in a cowered position)”), Serbo-Croatian kutriti (“to lie in a bent position”), Swedish kura (“huddle, cower”). Unrelated to coward, which is of Latin origin.

Related words

coward cowardice

Derived words

cowerer coweringly uncowering

Translations

Bulgarian: свивам се Bulgarian: треперя Catalan: encongir-se Chinese Mandarin: 抖縮 /抖缩 Chinese Mandarin: 退縮 /退缩 Czech: krčit se Dutch: in elkaar duiken Dutch: ineenkrimpen Finnish: kyyristellä Finnish: kyyristyä Finnish: karttaa Finnish: kartella French: se recroqueviller French: se tapir German: kauern German: ängstlich hocken Ancient Greek: καταπτήσσω Irish: cúb Irish: creathnaigh Japanese: 踞る Japanese: 畏怖する Māori: whakamaoko Māori: hūiki Māori: whakaririka Middle English: couren Norwegian Bokmål: krype sammen Norwegian Bokmål: krympe seg Norwegian Nynorsk: krype saman Norwegian Nynorsk: krympe seg Occitan: s’amatar Occitan: s’acaptar Occitan: s’aglatir Polish: kulić się Polish: skulać się Polish: skulić się Polish: przycupnąć Portuguese: encolher Russian: съёживаться Russian: съёжиться Russian: сжима́ться Russian: сжа́ться Russian: забива́ться Russian: заби́ться Serbo-Croatian: skutriti se Serbo-Croatian: kutriti Spanish: encogerse Spanish: amilanarse Swedish: kura Swedish: krypa ihop Ottoman Turkish: پوصمق
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