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

Derived Forms

• nonmendicant
  adjective
• mendicancy
  noun

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

Explanation

People who live off begging can be called mendicants. However, you probably wouldn't call your kids mendicants, even though they beg you for stuff, because the word mendicant also implies extreme poverty. The noun mendicant can also refer to a man belonging to a religious order, such as the Franciscan Friars — who do not own personal property but live together in a monastery and survive off alms donated by others. As an adjective, mendicant describes someone who lives such an existence.

Example Sentences

Oxford, 180 Mathematics, 20, 224, 225, 226 Mathilda, Empress, 47 Medicine, 221 Mellitus, Bishop, 17 Mendicant Orders, 170, 182 et seq.

From Education in England in the Middle Ages Thesis Approved for the Degree of Doctor of Science in the University of London by Parry, Albert William

Fourth Council of the Lateran—Innocent sanctions the Dominican and Franciscan Orders of Mendicant Friars 227 1240.

From Sketches of Church History From A.D. 33 to the Reformation by Robertson, James Craigie

The Mendicant Orders were already a sufficiently dangerous factor, and now came these new inquisitors, armed with papal commissions, superseding their time-honored jurisdiction in every spot within their dioceses.

From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume II by Lea, Henry Charles

The clergy would also still occasionally endeavor to prevent the establishment of new Mendicant houses, or seek to drive them away by ill-treatment, with the inevitable result of calling forth the papal vengeance.

From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume I by Lea, Henry Charles

Local opinion held the belief that there had been a Mendicant Priory, but this was not generally credited.

From The Dover Road Annals of an Ancient Turnpike by Harper, Charles G.