quail
The origin and history of quail.
Etymology
The bird sense and the "lose courage" verb sense come from two different, unrelated old words that happen to look identical in modern English; the verb traces to Middle Dutch quelen, "to suffer."
The origin and history of quail.
The bird sense and the "lose courage" verb sense come from two different, unrelated old words that happen to look identical in modern English; the verb traces to Middle Dutch quelen, "to suffer."