Recreants

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A cowardly person who betrays trust or duty
2. An individual demonstrating treasonous behavior and lack of bravery
3. A person who shows a lack of courage in difficult situations ; someone who betrays loyalty or duty to a group or cause

Etymology: "Recreants" is simply the plural of "recreant," so the word's story is really the story of "recreant." It comes from Middle English "recreaunt," borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Middle French "recreant," which meant "defeated." The word's roots lie in the medieval courtroom of trial by combat. The French verb "recroire" meant to yield in such a duel, to cry for mercy and surrender one's allegiance, so a "recreant" was a man who had given up the fight. That origin explains the modern sense. A knight who admitted defeat in a judicial duel was branded a coward and a traitor to his cause, so the word came to mean a person who abandons a duty or betrays a trust. The surrender was the disgrace, not the loss itself.