From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Caitiff \Cai"tiff\, a. [OE. caitif, cheitif, captive, miserable,
OF. caitif, chaitif, captive, mean, wretched, F. ch['e]tif,
fr. L. captivus captive, fr. capere to take, akin to E.
heave. See {Heave}, and cf. {Captive}.]
1. Captive; wretched; unfortunate. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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2. Base; wicked and mean; cowardly; despicable.
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Arnold had sped his caitiff flight. --W. Irving.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Caitiff \Cai"tiff\, n.
A captive; a prisoner. [Obs.]
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Avarice doth tyrannize over her caitiff and slave.
--Holland.
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2. A wretched or unfortunate man. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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3. A mean, despicable person; one whose character meanness
and wickedness meet.
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Note: The deep-felt conviction of men that slavery breaks
down the moral character . . . speaks out with . . .
distinctness in the change of meaning which caitiff has
undergone signifying as it now does, one of a base,
abject disposition, while there was a time when it had
nothing of this in it. --Trench.
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
caitiff
adj 1: despicably mean and cowardly
n 1: a cowardly and despicable person
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