mendicant

American  

[men-di-kuhnt] / ˈmɛn dɪ kənt /

adjective

1. begging; practicing begging; living on alms.

2. pertaining to or characteristic of a beggar.

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noun

1. a person who lives by begging; beggar.

2. a member of any of several orders of friars that originally forbade ownership of property, subsisting mostly on alms.

mendicant British  

/ mɛnˈdɪsɪtɪ, ˈmɛndɪkənt /

adjective

1. begging

2. (of a member of a religious order) dependent on alms for sustenance

   mendicant friars

3. characteristic of a beggar

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noun

1. a mendicant friar

2. a less common word for beggar

Other Word Forms

• mendicancy noun
• nonmendicant adjective

Etymology

Origin of mendicant

1425–75; late Middle English < Latin mendīcant- (stem of mendīcāns ), present participle of mendīcāre to beg, equivalent to mendīc ( us ) beggarly, needy + -ant- -ant

Example Sentences

Joining the Order of Saint Augustine, a mendicant order of the Catholic Church, Mendel was able to spend his life as a monk and therefore not have to worry about his livelihood.

From Salon

The friend began to hand a few coins to the mendicant, but the revolutionary stopped him, exclaiming: “Don’t delay the revolution!”

From Washington Post

Meanwhile, as Putin's military flattens cities like Kharkiv and Mariupol, making Russia an outlaw state, a mendicant Moscow is likely to become a cut-rate source of much-needed Chinese fuel and food imports.

From Salon

Clare doesn’t understand why this son of a silk merchant is wandering around like a nutty mendicant, but she recognizes what they have in common and suspects he has much to teach her.

From Los Angeles Times

"Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch led a global debate while others in our industry were silent or supine as digital dysfunctionality threatened to turn journalism into a mendicant order," said Mr Thomson.

From BBC