English

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Etymology

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From Middle English lidrone, from lidder, lither (bad, wicked, false), from Old English lȳþre (bad, wicked, base, mean, corrupt, wretched), from Proto-Germanic *lūþrijaz (neglected, dissolute, useless, bad), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lew- (slack, limp). More at lither.

Noun

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lidderon (plural lidderons)

  1. (rare, archaic, dialectal) One who is lazy, idle, or bad; rascal; scoundrel; a weakling.
    • c. 14th–15th century, "The York Realist" (real name unknown), “Trial Before Herod”, in The York Mystery Plays, York; republished as “The Litsters: Christ Before Herod”, in Richard Beadle, Pamela M. King, editors, York Mystery Plays: A Selection in Modern Spelling, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, →ISBN, lines 167–168:
      I leve we shall laugh and have liking / To see how this lidderon here he ledges our laws.
    • c. 1515–1516, published 1568, John Skelton, Againſt venemous tongues enpoyſoned with ſclaunder and falſe detractions &c.:
      My ſcoles are not for unthriftes untaught,
      For frantick faitours half mad and half ſtraught;
      But my learning is of another degree
      To taunt theim like liddrons, lewde as thei bee.

Synonyms

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