cower

Mane (Îngilîzî)

1. (intransitive) To crouch or cringe, or to avoid or shy away from something, in fear.
2. (archaic, intransitive) To crouch in general.
3. (transitive) To cause to cower; to frighten into submission.
4. (figuratively, intransitive) To be a coward; to hide away or refuse to face opposition due to fear.

Hevwate

cringe

shrink

crouch

squat

huddle

recoil

creep

flinch

crawl

grovel

shrivel

fawn

wince

shudder

hunch

hunched

kneel

knit

pucker

quail

ruck

rumple

squinch

stoop

submit

tremble

wimple

wrinkle

be bent

crimple

huddle up

be cramped

bend

fear

😨

bend down

bow

🙇

cluster

cockle

contract

cramped

crinkle

crumple

cuddle

curl up

dread

duck

🦆

hide

Werger

kauern

se tapir

hurken

hocken

agacharse

in elkaar duiken

se recroqueviller

être accroupi

abbassarsi

زحف

faire se courber

faire frémir

tapir

ζαρώνω

Wekî (IPA) tê bilêvkirin

/ˈkaʊɚ/

Etîmolojî (Îngilîzî)

Ji Middle English mîras hatiye girtin: couren

Hevwate bi îzlendî: kúra

Hevwate bi almanî: kauern

Hevwate bi holendî: koeren

Hevwate bi Serbo-Croatian: kutriti

Hevwate bi swêdî: kura

In summary

From Middle English couren, cowre, from Middle Low German kûren (“to lie in wait; linger”) or from North Germanic (Icelandic kúra (“to doze”)); according to Pokorny, all are ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to curve, bend”), see also Proto-Germanic *kuddô (“shell, pod”).
Cognate with German kauern (“to squat”), Dutch koeren (“to keep watch (in a cowered position)”), Serbo-Croatian kutriti (“to lie in a bent position”), Swedish kura (“huddle, cower”). Unrelated to coward, which is of Latin origin.