blackguard

Meaning

1. The lowest servant in a household charged with pots, pans, and other kitchen equipment.
2. An unprincipled, contemptible person; an untrustworthy person.
3. A man who uses foul language in front of a woman (typically a woman of high standing).
4. To revile or abuse in scurrilous language.
5. To act like a blackguard; to be a scoundrel.

Etymology / origin

From black + guard, thought to have referred originally to the scullions and lower menials of a court, or of a nobleman's household, who wore black liveries or blacked shoes and boots, or were often stained with soot.

Related words

Descendant words

• blégèrde(Norman) (bor)

Sources

No citations have been attached yet.