Meaning

noun an inferior dog or one of mixed breed

noun a cowardly and despicable person

originFrom Middle English curre (“watchdog, small hunting dog, mongrel, mutt”), perhaps of Middle Low German or North Germanic origin, possibly from Old Norse kurr (“grumbling”), itself of imitative origin. Compare Middle Dutch corre (“domestic dog, yard dog, watch-dog”), dialectal Dutch korre (“dog, yard dog”), dialectal Swedish kurre (“a dog”). Compare also Old Norse kurra (“to growl; grumble”),…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0