- turd (n.)
- Old English tord, from Proto-Germanic *turdam (cf. Middle Dutch torde "piece of excrement," Old Norse tord-yfill, Dutch tort-wevel "dung beetle"), from PIE *drtom, past participle of root *d(e)r- "flay, tear," thus "that which is separated (or torn off) from the body" (cf. shit from root meaning "to split"). As a type of something worthless and vile, it is attested from mid-13c.
A tord ne yeue ic for eu alle ["The Owl and the Nightingale," c.1250]
Meaning "despicable person" is recorded from mid-15c.
Alle thingis ... I deme as toordis, that I wynne Crist. [Wyclif, Phil. iii.8, 1382; KJV has "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord"]