Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Poltroon

Poltroon , noun

[French poltron, from Italian poltrone an idle fellow, sluggard, coward, poltro idle, lazy, also, bed, from Old High German polstar, bolstar, cushion, German polster, akin to English bolster. See Bolster.]

An arrant coward; a dastard; a craven; a mean-spirited wretch. — Shakespeare

Poltroon , adjective

Base; vile; contemptible; cowardly.