almsman

[ ahmz-muhn ]

noun

, plural alms·men.

1. a person supported by or receiving alms.
2. Archaic. a person who gives alms.

almsman

/ ˈɑːmzmən /

noun

1. archaic.
   a person who gives or receives alms

Gender Note

Is almsman gender-neutral? See -man.

Word History and Origins

Origin of almsman¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English almes man, Old English ælmesman; alms, -man

Example Sentences

Buried Eppifania Cakewood, an almsman’s wife.”

From Project Gutenberg

A poor man, supported in a beadhouse, and required to pray for the soul of its founder; an almsman.

From Project Gutenberg

Even before Moscow began threatening to play the economic card, Warsaw's creditors in the West were seeking ways of shoring up their ailing almsman.

From Time Magazine Archive

These cells were open at the top so that there was plenty of fresh air, and if an almsman became ill or infirm, he could hear the service chanted daily in the chapel without leaving his bed.

From Project Gutenberg

What fugitive, what almsman of any foreign state, can do so much harm as a detractor, a libeller, a scornful jester at home?

From Project Gutenberg