/ˈpɒl.truːn/·noun·c. 1529 in English, from Middle French poltron·Established
Origin
Poltroon entered English via French poltron and Italian poltrone, carrying two competing origins — either from Latin pullus (young animal, linking it to pullet and foal) or from the Italian word for bed, casting the coward as the man who simply refuses to rise.
Definition
A complete coward; one utterly lacking in courage, from Italian poltrone (lazy fellow, coward), ultimately possibly from Latin pullus (young animal) via PIE *pau- (small, few, young).
The Full Story
French / Italian / Latin / Proto-Indo-European16th century English; 15th–16th century French/Italian; Classical Latin; PIEwell-attested
English 'poltroon' enters the language in the mid-16th century as a term of strong contempt for a base, spiritless coward — someone utterly lacking in courage. It comesdirectly from Middle French 'poltron', itself borrowed from Italian 'poltrone', meaning a lazy person or a coward. The Italian form is most plausibly derived from 'poltrire' (to lie in bed, to laze about), suggesting the original image is of someone who takes to their bed rather than
Did you know?
If poltroon descends from Latin pullus (young animal), it is a distant cousin of pullet, poultry, and foal — meaning the most formal insult in the dueling tradition's vocabulary is etymologically kin to baby chickens. The word built to strip a man of honour may be rooted in the same Indo-European syllable that named a hen's offspring.
: an unbroken, timid creature not yet fit for use). 'Pullus' itself descends from the Proto-Indo-European root *pau-/*pu- (few, small, little, young), the same root that gives English 'few', 'foal', 'pullet', and 'poultry'. Whether the coward of 'poltroon' is imagined as a bedridden idler or as an unbroken young animal — timid, small, of no martial use — the word's history maps contempt onto images of smallness, youth, softness, and an unwillingness to rise. Key roots: *pau- (Proto-Indo-European: "few, small, young — the root of smallness and youth across the IE family"), pullus (Latin: "young animal, chick, foal — an unbroken timid creature"), poltro (Italian (Germanic origin): "bed, couch — the coward as one who stays abed rather than fights").