English-Thai Dictionary
caitiff
A ต่ำช้า เลว หยาบ
Webster's 1913 Dictionary
CAITIFF
Cai "tiff, a. Etym: [OE. caitif, cheitif, captive, miserable, OF. caitif, chaitif, captive, mean, wretched, F. chétif, fr. L. captivus captive, fr. capere to take, akin to E. heave. See Heave, and cf. Captive. ]
1. Captive; wretched; unfortunate. [Obs. ] Chaucer.
2. Base; wicked and mean; cowardly; despicable. Arnold had sped his caitiff flight. W. Irving.
CAITIFF
CAITIFF Cai "tiff, n.
Defn: A captive; a prisoner. [Obs. ] Avarice doth tyrannize over her caitiff and slave. Holland.
2. A wretched or unfortunate man. [Obs. ] Chaucer.
3. A mean, despicable person; one whose character meanness and wickedness meet.
Note: The deep-felt conviction of men that slavery breaks down the moral character. .. speaks out with. .. distinctness in the change of meaning which caitiff has undergone signifying as it now does, one of a base, abject disposition, while there was a time when it had nothing of this in it. Trench.
New American Oxford Dictionary
caitiff
cai tiff |ˈkātif ˈkeɪdəf | ▶noun archaic a contemptible or cowardly person: [ as modifier ] : a caitiff knight. ORIGIN Middle English (denoting a captive or prisoner ): from Old French caitif ‘captive, ’ based on Latin captivus ‘(person ) taken captive ’ (see captive ).
Oxford Dictionary
caitiff
caitiff |ˈkeɪtɪf | ▶noun archaic a contemptible or cowardly person: [ as modifier ] : a caitiff knight. ORIGIN Middle English (denoting a captive or prisoner ): from Old French caitif ‘captive ’, based on Latin captivus ‘(person ) taken captive ’ (see captive ).
The Wordsmith Dictionary