mendicant

[ men-di-kuhnt ]

adjective

1. begging; practicing begging; living on alms.
2. pertaining to or characteristic of a beggar.

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

/ 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

noun

1. a mendicant friar
2. a less common word for beggar

Derived Forms

• ˈmendicancy, noun

Other Words From

• non·mendi·cant adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of mendicant¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of mendicant¹

C16: from Latin mendīcāre to beg, from mendīcus beggar, from mendus flaw

Example Sentences

He has been on intimate terms with czar and serf, he has met millionaire and mendicant, he has hobnobbed with prince and pauper.

From Project Gutenberg

In a way of speaking, this mendicant of Coney Island was perhaps of this class.

From Project Gutenberg

They probably despised her already; how much more they would despise her in the character of a mendicant!

From Project Gutenberg

I must go there, if I clothe myself in the rags of a mendicant lama and beg my way from one black tent to another.

From Project Gutenberg

In a few days the town of Brussels swarmed with ash-gray garments such as were usually worn by mendicant friars and penitents.

From Project Gutenberg