ARRANT, a word at first used in its original meaning of wandering, as in "knight-errant" (Lat. errare, to wander) ; thus an arrant or itinerant preacher, an arrant thief, one outlawed and wandering at large; the meaning easily passed to that of self-de clared, notorious, and by the middle of the 16th century was confined to words of opprobrium and abuse, an arrant coward meaning thus a self-declared, downright coward.