Etymology

recreant

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Today it means: Having admitted defeat and surrendered; defeated. Full definition →

First used 13th c.Middle English recreaunt ← Middle French recreant
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The story

  1. Middle French · derived fromrecreant“defeated”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromrecreaunt
  3. English todayrecreant

From Middle English recreaunt, from Anglo-Norman and Middle French recreant (“defeated”), from recroire (“to yield in a trial by combat, surrender allegiance”). Compare miscreant.

First known use, by meaning

  • from 13th c. Having admitted defeat and surrendered; defeated.
  • from 17th c. Unfaithful to someone, or to one's duties or honour; disloyal, false.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.