How to spell coward

hear itcow·ard/'kaʊərd/nounSilent and tricky

What it means: A person who is afraid and lacks courage.

In a sentence: The coward was too scared to go into the dark cave.

The part people get wrong

Often misspelled as cowerd or cowardd.

Same family: cowardly, cowardice, timid, fearful, brave. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: Coward comes from Old French ‘coart’, likely from ‘coe’ meaning ‘tail’, with the idea of someone who “turns tail” and runs away from danger. The ending ‘-ard’ appears in several English words for people, often with a slightly negative meaning, such as ‘drunkard’ or ‘sluggard’.

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