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(), a.[OE. caitif, cheitif, captive, miserable, OF. caitif, chaitif, captive, mean, wretched, F. chtif, fr. L. captivus captive, fr. capere to take, akin to E. heave. See Heave, and cf. Captive.] 1. Captive; wretched; unfortunate. [Obs.] Chaucer. 2. Base; wicked and mean; cowardly; despicable. Arnold had sped his caitiff flight. W. Irving. Cai"tiff n.A captive; a prisoner. [Obs.] Avarice doth tyrannize over her caitiff and slave. Holland. 2. A wretched or unfortunate man. [Obs.] Chaucer. 3. A mean, despicable person; one whose character meanness and wickedness meet. The deep-felt conviction of men that slavery breaks down the moral character . . . speaks out with . . . distinctness in the change of meaning which caitiff has undergone signifying as it now does, one of a base, abject disposition, while there was a time when it had nothing of this in it. Trench. スポンサード リンク
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