-ard

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | 566 words | Copyright

-ard repr. (O)F. -ard, †-art — OHG. -hart, being the adj. hart bold, hardy, HARD, often forming part of personal names, as OHG. Reginhart REYNARD; in MHG. and Du. a formative of common nouns, gen. pejorative; in Eng. orig. in adoptions of F. sbs., as bastard, coward, mallard; the depreciatory sense of some of these led to its being used to form similar words on various stems, as dastard, drunkard, laggard, niggard, sluggard, wizard. In several words it conceals endings of a different origin, as bustard, custard, hazard, leopard, steward, tankard.

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T. F. HOAD. "-ard." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "-ard." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ard.html

T. F. HOAD. "-ard." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ard.html

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