pusillanimity

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the quality of being timid or cowardly, especially in avoiding risk or responsibility

   The committee's pusillanimity kept it from confronting the corruption directly.

Formed from pusillanimous + -ity, through Middle French pusillanimité and ultimately ecclesiastical Latin pusillanimis. The Latin compound joins pusillus ("puny, very small") with animus ("spirit, courage"), literally suggesting a small spirit. It corresponds to Greek ὀλιγόψυχος (oligopsychos, "faint-hearted").

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