craven
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L31010 on Wikidata ↗noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L318826 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈkɹeɪ.vən/
adj
Etymology: From Middle English cravant, either borrowed from Old French cravanté (“defeated”), past participle of cravanter (ultimately from Latin crepare), or a modification of creaunt (“defeated”) after craven (“to crave”).
- Unwilling to fight; lacking even the rudiments of courage; extremely cowardly.
“The poor craven bridegroom said never a word.”
“Prime Minister Abe's fumbling and craven performance took place on a national holiday in Korea, marking the countrywide uprising against the Japanese colonial rule that began on March 1, 1919. March 1 is also the day in 1932 that Japan chose to inaugurate Manchukuo (after seizing northeastern China).”
name
Etymology: From Proto-Brythonic; equivalent to Welsh craf (“garlic”) + the suffix -an. Compare Cremona.
- A surname.
- A former local government district in North Yorkshire, England, merged in 2023 into the North Yorkshire unitary authority.
- A village in the Rural Municipality of Longlaketon No. 219, Saskatchewan, Canada.
- A locality in the MidCoast council area, eastern New South Wales, Australia.
noun
Etymology: From Middle English cravant, either borrowed from Old French cravanté (“defeated”), past participle of cravanter (ultimately from Latin crepare), or a modification of creaunt (“defeated”) after craven (“to crave”).
- A coward.
“He is a craven and a villain else.”
““God knows I would rather die licked in the fire by the side of my king than to live out my days twitted and scorned as a craven.””
verb
Etymology: From Middle English cravant, either borrowed from Old French cravanté (“defeated”), past participle of cravanter (ultimately from Latin crepare), or a modification of creaunt (“defeated”) after craven (“to crave”).
- To make craven.
“There is a prohibition so divine / That cravens my weak hand.”