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

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

Mendicant, men′di-kant, adj. in the condition of a beggar: practising beggary.—n. one who is in extreme want: a beggar: a member of one of the R.C. orders who live by begging: a begging friar.—ns.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

Even the jealously-guarded right of asylum in the churches was waived in its favor, and the immunities of the Mendicant Orders gave them no exemption from its jurisdiction.

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

We now approach the grave controversy which was carried on for years between our Archbishop and the Mendicant Religious Orders.

From The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Volume 1, August 1865 by Clergymen, Society of

The diocese of Geneva was also the subject of contention embittered by the traditional rivalry between the two Mendicant Orders.

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

The selections have been made from four previous volumes now out of print: Mendicant Rhymes, The Little Land, Rue, and Spikenard.

From Poems by Shanks, Edward