cowish
English
Etymology 1
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Alternative forms
Noun
cowish (uncountable)
- An umbelliferous plant (Lomatium cous) with edible tuberous roots, found in Oregon, USA.
Etymology 2
Adjective
cowish (comparative more cowish, superlative most cowish)
- (obsolete) fearful; cowardly
- c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:
- It is the cowish terror of his spirit, / That dares not undertake.
- Similar to a cow; cowlike
References
- “cowish”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.