cowardly
adj.
1550s, from coward + -ly(1). The adverb (late 14c.) is much older than the adjective:
Yit had I levir do what I may Than here to dye thus cowerdelye ["Le Morte d'Arthur," c.1450]
An Old English word for "cowardly" was earg, which also meant "slothful." Related: Cowardliness.