To make cowardly; to cause someone to act like a coward.
Third-person singular present tense of 'becoward.' The 'be-' prefix combined with 'coward' produces a verb that was more common in Early Modern English but rarely used in modern speech.
Shakespeare and his contemporaries had access to this verb but preferred different phrasings—this suggests that even in the 1600s, English speakers found 'becoward' unwieldy. Language naturally selects the most efficient forms, which is why truly useful words survive while unnecessary ones fade.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.