lily-livered

形容词 adj.
中文释义

英文释义

形容词 adj.
  1. Cowardly, lacking courage. idiomatic
    — Stew[ard],^([sic]) What doſt thou know me for? / Kent. […] [A] lilly lyuer'd action taking knaue, […] one that would'ſt bee a baud in way of good ſeruice, and art nothing but the compoſition of a knaue, begger, coward, pander, and the ſonne and heire of a mungrell bitch, […]

词形变化

more lily-livered comparative most lily-livered superlative

词源

The first known uses of lily-livered are in William Shakespeare’s works written c. 1603–1606; see quotations below. From the medieval belief that the liver was the seat of courage, and the pale color of the lily flower. A person who had no blood in their liver would have no courage and would thus be a coward. Equivalent to lily + livered.
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