poltroonn.adj.

Etymology: < Middle French, French poultron, poltron coward (1509; 1495 as poiltron in sense ‘good-for-nothing’), lazy person (1552), bird with clipped talons (1680) < Italian poltrone worthless or cowardly person (13th cent.), lazy person (a1348), ultimately < a post-classical Latin derivative (compare post-classical Latin poledrus , poletrus , pulletrus foal (7th cent. or earlier)) of classical Latin pullus young animal (see pull n.²; compare classical Latin pullitra young chicken, pullet (Varro); the exact suffixation is uncertain); with the suffixation of the Italian word compare -one -oon suffix. Compare post-classical Latin pultron-, pultro (c1220), Catalan poltró (1607), Spanish poltrón (1517), Portuguese poltrão (17th cent. as adjective).In forms in -u- perhaps influenced by post-classical Latin. Apparently in early use frequently with stress on the first syllable. The derivation (by popular etymology) of poltron from an unattested post-classical Latin phrase pollice truncus ‘maimed or mutilated in the thumb’ (i.e. in order to shirk military service, a practice mentioned by Latin authors from the 4th cent.), was suggested by Salmasius (1640), and was long accepted as the etymology; it probably gave rise to the use in falconry in French and English (sense A. 2).