Coward

adj. and sb. cowardly, a coward, MD, C2.—AF. coward , cuard , cp. the heraldic term lion couard , a lion with his tail between his legs, and the name for the hare in the old terms of hunting ‘la cowarde ou la court cowe ,’ i.e. short-tail.—Formed with the suffix -ard from OF. coe , tail; Lat. cauda . Cp. It. codardo , from coda , a tail.