404meanings / The Scriptorium / Medieval

before 1500

Medieval Words and Insults

Words first recorded before 1500 — in Old and Middle English: Chaucer, Langland, and the records where a name or a word was first set down.

Shown: Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill — Pieter Claesz, 1628 · The Met, public domain

  1. before 1100Churlinsult · nounIn Old English a 'ceorl' was simply a free man of the lowest rank, a peasant. By 1300 it meant a bondman or a fellow of low birth or rude manners, and today it means a rude, surly or stingy person.
  2. before 1100Forsoothword · adverb'In truth, indeed' — from 'for' plus 'sooth' (truth). By about 1600 it already sounded affected, and it came to be used sarcastically to show contempt or doubt; today it mostly signals mock-archaic speech.
  3. before 1100Knaveinsult · nounAt first simply 'boy' or 'male servant'. By about 1200 it had slid, via 'menial' and 'low-born fellow', into 'rogue, rascal' — a tricky, dishonest man. Since the 1560s it has also named the jack in a pack of cards.
  4. mid-1100sScoldinsult · noun (also verb)In the 1100s a scold was a person of ribald, abusive speech; by about 1300, someone fond of chiding and abusive language, especially a quarrelsome woman. English law even had the offence of being a 'common scold'. Probably from Old Norse 'skald', poet — Norse poets were feared for mocking verse.
  5. late 1200sFieword · interjectionAn exclamation of disgust, disapproval or reproach — 'shame!' or 'ugh!'. Probably from Old French 'fi', reinforced by a Scandinavian form; a natural sound of disgust found in many languages.
  6. c. 1300Caitiffinsult · noun (also adjective)A base, cowardly or despicable person; a wretch. It comes from the same Latin word as 'captive' (captivus): the sense slid from 'prisoner' to 'miserable wretch' to 'villain'.
  7. c. 1300Gramercyword · interjection'Great thanks!' — from Old French 'grant merci'. First an exclamation of thanks, later also of surprise. Modern French 'merci' is a shortening of the same phrase.
  8. 1344Ragamuffininsult · nounA scruffy, ragged person, especially a child. In the 1300s it was the name of a demon.
  9. mid-1300sLubberinsult · nounA large, slow, awkward man who would rather idle than work. From the 1500s it became mainly a sailors' word for someone inept or new at sea — hence 'landlubber'.
  10. mid-1300sMarryoath · interjectionAn oath 'by Mary', the Virgin Mary's name worn down by constant use. It could mean 'indeed!' or 'truly!', add emphasis, or express surprise; by Shakespeare's day it was a very common interjection.
  11. 1362Japerinsult · nounAt first a trickster, deceiver or impostor; soon also one who japes — a joker, buffoon or professional jester. Medieval moralists counted 'japers' as sinners who made people laugh at idle mockery. Obsolete after the 1500s, then revived in the 1800s for a jester.
  12. 1362Lorelinsult · noun (also adjective)A worthless person, rogue or blackguard — a twin of 'losel', formed from 'loren', the other old past participle of 'to lose'. In the 1500s it was often played off against 'lord' (the lorel versus the lord).
  13. 1362Loselinsult · noun (also adjective)A worthless, good-for-nothing person; a scoundrel or wastrel. Built from 'losen', an old past participle of the verb 'to lose', so the root idea is 'one who is lost' — a ne'er-do-well.
  14. late 1300sCumberworldinsult · nounA person (or thing) that merely encumbers the world — useless, taking up space. Chaucer's Troilus uses it of himself in despair.
  15. late 1300sMilksopinsult · nounA weak, spineless, timid man. Literally a piece of bread soaked in milk — soft food for infants — so the insult calls a grown man babyishly soft.
  16. late 1300sSluggardinsult · noun (also adjective)A habitually lazy person — in the Middle Ages, one afflicted with the deadly sin of sloth. Formed from Middle English 'sluggi' (sluggish) plus the scornful ending '-ard'.
  17. c. 1400Doddypollinsult · nounA stupid person, a blockhead. The second half is 'poll', the old word for 'head'; the first is probably Middle English 'dote', a fool or senile old man — so roughly 'dotard-head'.
  18. before 1450Flibbertigibbetinsult · nounA chattering gossip; a flighty, frivolous person. It probably imitates the sound of meaningless fast talk. Around 1600 it was also the name of a devil — Shakespeare's Edgar calls 'the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet' in King Lear.
  19. 1450Jackanapesinsult · nounIts earliest recorded use (1450) is a mocking nickname for the Duke of Suffolk (whose badge was an ape's clog and chain); it was probably already a pet name for a tame ape, which is recorded from 1522. By the mid-1500s it meant a pert, conceited, ape-like upstart, and later, playfully, a cheeky child.
  20. mid-1400sTushword · interjectionAn exclamation of impatient rebuke or scornful dismissal — roughly 'pooh!' or 'nonsense!'. Related to 'tut'.
  21. mid-1400sVarletinsult · nounOriginally a young attendant or servant, especially a knight's page (it is a doublet of 'valet'). Because servants were low in rank, by the 1540s it had become an insult: a low fellow, a rogue or rascal.