Lovel

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic term for a base, low-born or contemptible person, used in older English writing to belittle someone
2. Old-fashioned word for a mean, common or lowborn fellow, often used as an insult in historical texts
3. A dated label for a worthless, ignoble man of humble origins, found mainly in medieval and early modern English

Etymology: In Middle English, "lovel" was a term of contempt for a low-born, worthless man. Today it survives mainly as a surname, but in medieval texts it named a person judged to have no value or standing. Its origin is uncertain. One suggestion links it to Anglo-Norman or Old French, possibly as a diminutive of "lou", meaning wolf. On that reading, the sense may have started as something like "wolf-cub" before being extended to a base, unwanted person. This connection is plausible but not firmly documented, so it should be treated as a hypothesis.

Synonyms: churl, knave, boor, villein

Antonyms: noble, gentleman