According to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_Etymology_Dictionary Online Etymology Dictionary], the word coward came into [[English]] from the Old French word coart (modern French [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/couard couard]), a combination of the word for "tail" (Modern French queue, [[Latin]] cauda) and an agent noun suffix. It would therefore have meant "one with a tail" — perhaps from the [[habit]] of [[animals]] displaying their tails in flight ("turning tail"), or from a dog's [[habit]] of putting its tail between its legs when it is afraid. Like many other [[English]] words of French [[origin]], this [[word]] was introduced in the [[English]] language by the French-speaking Normans, after the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_conquest_of_England Norman conquest of England] in 1066. | According to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_Etymology_Dictionary Online Etymology Dictionary], the word coward came into [[English]] from the Old French word coart (modern French [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/couard couard]), a combination of the word for "tail" (Modern French queue, [[Latin]] cauda) and an agent noun suffix. It would therefore have meant "one with a tail" — perhaps from the [[habit]] of [[animals]] displaying their tails in flight ("turning tail"), or from a dog's [[habit]] of putting its tail between its legs when it is afraid. Like many other [[English]] words of French [[origin]], this [[word]] was introduced in the [[English]] language by the French-speaking Normans, after the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_conquest_of_England Norman conquest of England] in 1066. |