Forms: 3, 7 cravant (crau-), 5 crauaunde, 6 cravine, -yne, 7 cravand, 6– craven. [In early ME. crauant (rare), etymology obscure.
Mr. Henry Nicol (Proc. Phil. Soc., Dec. 1879) suggested its identification with OF. cravanté, crevanté, crushed, overcome: see CRAVENT v. But the total absence of the final é from the word, at a date when English still retained final e, makes a difficulty. Others have considered it a variant, in some way, of CREANT (OF. creant, craant), which is a much more frequent word in the same sense in ME. The difficulty here is to account for the v (u), for which popular association with CRAVE v. and its northern pa. pple. craved has been conjectured.]
A. adj.
† 1. Vanquished, defeated; or, perh., confessing himself vanquished. Obs.
a. 1225. St. Marher., 11. Ich am kempe ant he is crauant þet me wende to ouercumen.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 133. Al ha icneowen ham crauant & ourcumen, & cweðen hire þe meistrie & te menske al up.
b. To cry craven: to acknowledge oneself vanquished, to give up the contest, surrender. Also fig.
a. 1634. Coke, Inst., III. (1648), 221. If he become recreant, that is, a crying Coward or Craven he shall for his perjury lose liberam legem.
1639. Fuller, Holy War, IV. xi. (1840), 196. He had been visited with a desperate sickness, insomuch that all art cried craven, as unable to help him.
1768. Blackstone, Comm., III. 340. Or victory is obtained, if either champion proves recreant, that is, yields, and pronounces the horrible word of craven.
1805. Southey, Madoc in W., xv. I … will make That slanderous wretch cry craven in the dust.
1869. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (ed. 2), III. xv. 451. Neither King nor Duke was a man likely to cry craven.
2. That owns himself beaten or afraid of his opponent; cowardly, weak-hearted, abjectly pusillanimous.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth., 133. Haa! crauaunde knyghte! a cowarde þe semez!
1598. Drayton, Heroic. Epist., v. 77. Those Beggers-Brats … Ally the Kingdome to their cravand Brood.
1602. Shaks., Ham., IV. iv. 40. Some craven scruple Of thinking too precisely on the event.
1656. Trapp, Comm. 1 Cor. xv. 55. Death is here out-braved, called craven to his face.
1808. Scott, Marm., V. xii. The poor craven bridegroom said never a word.
1848. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., II. 592. All other feelings had given place to a craven fear for his life.
† b. Applied to a cock: see B 2. Obs.
1579. Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 106. Though hee bee a cocke of the game, yet Euphues is content to be crauen and crye creake.
1609. Bp. W. Barlow, Answ. Nameless Cath., 164. His Crauen Cocke, after about or two … crowing a Conquest, being ready presently to Cry Creake.
c. 1622. Fletcher, Love’s Cure, II. ii. Wks. (Rtldg.), II. 161/1. Oh, craven-chicken of a cock o’ th’ game!
1649. G. Daniel, Trinarch., Hen. V., xlix. Red Craven Cocks come in.
B. sb. 1. A confessed or acknowledged coward.
1581. J. Bell, Haddon’s Answ. Osor., 349. Monckes and Friers, and that whole generation of Cowled Cravines.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., IV. vii. 139. Hee is a Crauen and a Villaine else.
1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all, 53. In regard of manhood a meere crauant.
1795. Southey, Joan of Arc, X. 458. Fly, cravers! leave your aged chief.
1860. Froude, Hist. Eng., VI. 73. He climbed to the highest round of the political ladder, to fall and perish like a craven.
2. A cock that ‘is not game.’
1596. Shaks., Tam. Shr., II. i. 228. No Cocke of mine, you crow too like a crauen.
1611. Speed, Hist. Gt. Brit., IX. iv. 14. Whereto the Pope, (no Crauant to be dared on his owne dung-hill) as stoutly answered.
1826. Gentl. Mag., Feb., 157/1. It is certainly a hard case that a fighting-cock should kill an unoffending craven.
C. Comb., as craven-hearted, -like adj. & adv.
1615. Crooke, Body of Man, 245. All creatures whose Testicles are hidde within should be faynt and crauen-hearted.
1705. Hickeringill, Priest-cr., I. 48. Not as Gentlemen and Scholars, but (Craven-like) calling upon the Jaylors, the Sumners, [etc.].
1836. Whittier, Song of the Free, i. Shrink we all craven-like, When the storm gathers?
