a suffix forming nouns that denote persons who regularly engage in an activity, or who are characterized in a certain way, as indicated by the stem; now usually pejorative: coward; dullard; drunkard; wizard.
Middle English < Old French, probably extracted from Frankish compound personal names; compare Old High GermanAdalhart (FrenchAlard), Bernhart (FrenchBernard), with 2nd element -hart literally, strong, hardy, hard (cognate with Old English-heard in names), often merely as intensifier of quality denoted in 1st element.
also -art, from Old French -ard, -art, from German -hard, -hart "hardy," forming the second element in many personal names, often used as an intensifier, but in Middle High German and Dutch used as a pejorative element in common nouns, and thus passing into Middle English in bastard, coward, blaffard ("one who stammers"), etc. It thus became a living element in English, e.g. buzzard, drunkard.