Meaning

noun an awkward stupid person

originOf dialectal origin, likely derived from Middle English louten (“to bow, bend low, stoop over”), from Old English lūtan (“to bow, bend forward, stoop”), from Proto-West Germanic *lūtan, from Proto-Germanic *lūtaną (“to bow down, lout”). Alternatively, derived from Middle English louten (“to hide, lurk”), from Old English lūtian (“to lurk, skulk”), from Proto-West Germanic *lūtēn (“to be hidden,…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0