a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) iv. 314 Touchende of Slowthe in his degre, Ther is yit Pusillamite, Which is to seie in this langage, He that hath litel of corage.
a1393 J. Gower (Fairf.) vii. 3527 Bot it is Pusillamite, Which every Prince scholde flee.
c1450 (a1400) Orologium Sapientiæ in (1888) 10 334 So þat sumtyme, for þe pusillanimite and febelnesse of spiryte, he wote neyþer wheþene hit comeþ or wheder hit goþ.
a1500 (a1450) tr. (Ashm. 396) (1977) 80 Twelfly is that he be..bolde, with-out drede and pusillanimite [a1500 Lamb. fayntnesse of corage].
1592 A. Day 2nd Pt. Eng. Secretorie x. 61, in (rev. ed.) The contrary hereof, which is inhonestum, includeth..whatsoeuer is pertinent to Folly, iniustice, Pusillanimitie, or excesse, whatsoeuer by the euill therin committed is exempted from praise.
1600 W. Shakespeare iv. ii. 102 The blood, which..left the lyuer white & pale, which is the badge of pusilanimitie and cowardize.
a1653 H. Binning (1845) 529 It is a great weakness and pusillanimity to be soon angry.
1687 A. Behn iii. ii. 45 I might, through great Pusillanimity, blush—to give you this Anxiety.
1724 ‘C. Johnson’ ii. 53 One Humphrey Morgan urged the Matter farther than the rest, taxing them with Pusilanimity and Cowardice.
1776 W. J. Mickle in tr. L. de Camoens vii. 313 (note) The..pusillanimity with which they have long submitted to the oppressions of a few Arabs.
1804 8 Aug. 2/5 His contempt for the enemy is fairly justified by their pusillanimity.
1890 July 61/2 That there is a certain pusillanimity in seeking redress for such wrongs in the courts only.
1914 31 July 9/3 Were we to show weakness or pusillanimity now, none would trust us again.
1948 J. R. R. Tolkien Septuagesima (1995) 128 My whispering asides are most often due to sheer pusillanimity, and a fear of being laughed at by the general company.
1994 A. Theroux 102 A certain amount of dim-wittedness and pusillanimity, even evil, has often been associated with yellow hair.
