Caitiff

(kā'tif), n. [O. Fr. caitif, chaitif, chetif, captive, unfortunate, N. Fr. chétif, mean, wretched, captif, captive, Pr. caitiu, captiu, It. cattivo, prisoner, miserable, wicked, from Lat. captivus, captive, from capere, to take.]

1. A captive; a prisoner. [Obs.] “Avarice doth tyrannize over her caitif and slave.” Holland.
2. A mean, despicable person; one in whose character baseness and wickedness meet.

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.