View synonyms for mendicant

mendicant

[ men-di-kuhnt ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

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

noun

a person who lives by begging; beggar.
a member of any of several orders of friars that originally forbade ownership of property, subsisting mostly on alms.

mendicant

/ mɛnˈdɪsɪtɪ; ˈmɛndɪkənt /

adjective

begging
(of a member of a religious order) dependent on alms for sustenance
mendicant friars
characteristic of a beggar

noun

a mendicant friar
See beggar
a less common word for beggar

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Derived Forms

ˈmendicancy, noun

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Other Words From

non·mendi·cant adjective

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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

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Word History and Origins

Origin of mendicant¹

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

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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

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April 18, 2024petrichor

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mendicancy mendicity

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