poltron

poltron (plural poltrons)

1. (obsolete) Alternative form of poltroon
   • 1716, Thomas Browne, edited by Samuel Johnson, Christian Morals‎, 2nd edition, London: J. Payne, published 1756, Part I, p. 35:

     Be not a Hercules furens abroad, and a poltron within thyself.

   • 1792, Thomas Holcroft, Anna St. Ives‎, London: Shepperson & Reynolds, Volume 4, Letter 71, p. 127:

     She shall find I am not the clay, but the potter. I will mould, not be moulded. Poltron as I was, to think of sinking into the docile, domesticated, timid animal called husband!

   • 1823, Edward Dillingham Bangs, An oration pronounced at Springfield, Mass., on the Fourth of July, 1823‎:

     We were regarded as a nation of poltrons, without the spirit to resent insult, or the power to resist aggression.

Inherited from Middle French poltron, ultimately borrowed from Italian poltrone.

Attested since 1509.

• IPA^(key): /pɔl.tʁɔ̃/

• Audio:

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poltron m or f by sense (plural poltrons)

1. (derogatory) coward

poltron (feminine poltronne, masculine plural poltrons, feminine plural poltronnes)

1. (derogatory) cowardly

• “poltron”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

poltron m (plural poltrons)

1. coward

• English: poltroon
• French: poltron

Borrowed from French poltron (“coward”), from Italian poltrone (“sluggard”).

poltron m (plural poltrons)

1. (Jersey) thug

Borrowed from French poltron.

poltron m (plural poltroni)

1. coward