bastard (n.)
"illegitimate child," early 13c., from Old French bastard "acknowledged child of a nobleman by a woman other than his wife" (11c., Modern French bâtard), probably from fils de bast "packsaddle son," meaning a child conceived on an improvised bed (saddles often doubled as beds while traveling), with pejorative ending -art (see
-ard). Alternative possibly is that the word is from Proto-Germanic *banstiz "barn," equally suggestive of low origin.
bustard (n.)
large grallatorial bird, mid-15c. (late 14c. as a surname), from Old French bistarde, also oustarde, said to be from Latin avis tarda, but the sense of this ("slow bird") is the opposite of the bird's behavior and thus it might be a folk-etymology. Cognate with Italian ottarda, Spanish avutarda. Extinct in England since 1832 but lately an effort has been made to reintroduce them.
buzzard (n.)
c. 1300, "type of hawk not used in falconry," from Old French buisart "harrier, inferior hawk," from buson, buison, apparently from Latin buteonem (nominative buteo) a kind of hawk ("but the process of formation is not evident" - OED), perhaps with -art suffix for one that carries on some action or possesses some quality, with derogatory connotation (see
-ard). In the New World extended to the American vulture (by 1830s). De Vaan says buteo is "Probably onomatopoeic, rendering the call of a hawk or buzzard."
I, ako treba da se nacrta do kraja:
coward (n.)
"one who lacks courage to meet danger or shrinks from the chance of being hurt," mid-13c., from Anglo-French couard, couart, Old French coart "coward" (no longer the usual word in French, which has now in this sense poltron, from Italian, and lâche), from coe "tail," from Latin coda, popular dialect variant of cauda "tail" (see
coda) + -ard, an agent noun suffix denoting one that carries on some action or possesses some quality, with derogatory connotation (see
-ard).
The word probably reflects an animal metaphoric sense still found in expressions like turning tail and tail between legs. Coart was the name of the hare in Old French versions of "Reynard the Fox." Italian codardo, Spanish cobarde (Old Spanish couarde) are from French. The spelling in English was influenced by cow (v. and n.).
As a surname (attested from mid-13c.) it represents Old English cuhyrde "cow-herd." As an adjective, "lacking courage, timorous," from late 13c. Farmer has coward's castle "a pulpit," "Because a clergyman may deliver himself therefrom without fear of contradiction or argument."