Nidding

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic term for a contemptible coward or villain ; describing someone or something as base, cowardly and deserving of scorn
2. A despicable person, a coward or wretch of the worst sort ; a word for behaviour that is mean, spineless and shameful
3. An old word for a base wretch who shows cowardice ; used to describe conduct that is vile, craven and dishonourable

Etymology: Nidding is an Old English-derived word, once one of the strongest insults a person could hurl in medieval northern Europe. In Old English "niðing" (the form the word takes in its own language) meant a coward, a villain, or someone who had broken the most basic obligations of a free man, such as failing to keep an oath or betraying his lord and kin. The word is related to "nið", meaning hatred, enmity, or malice, and it carried a legal weight that went beyond mere name-calling: in Norse-influenced Iceland, a man declared a "niðingr" could be outlawed and shunned by the community. The word survived into Middle English, and its later uses are most often found in the context of poetry and historical romance, where it was revived as a way of signalling the archaic, heroic register of old sagas. Its Old Norse cognate "níðingr" appears frequently in the Icelandic sagas, where it is the term for the worst kind of dishonourable man.