mendicancy
Americannoun
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the practice of begging, as for alms.
-
the state or condition of being a beggar.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of mendicancy
First recorded in 1780–90; mendic(ant) + -ancy
Vocabulary lists containing mendicancy
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mendicancy, except in the case of little children who do it for the nonce, seems unknown in the Morea.
From Rambles and Studies in Greece by Mahaffy, J. P.
Mendicancy flies from the workhouse and the stone-yard to entrench itself against Guardians and relieving-officers among the soup-kitchens and the coal-tickets of feminine almsgiving.
From Modern Women and What is Said of Them A Reprint of A Series of Articles in the Saturday Review (1868) by Calhoun, Lucia Gilbert
In spite of the peculiar characters of these reminiscences, I cannot help feeling a certain regret at the decay of Professional Mendicancy.
From Urban Sketches by Harte, Bret
Mendicancy, preaching, hearing confessions, and teaching publicly were the capital sins that consigned the Friars to reprobation.
From Saint Bonaventure The Seraphic Doctor Minister-General of the Franciscan Order by Costelloe, Laurence
Invitation to the Palace at last—Journey to it—Bombay's Visit to King Kamrasi—Our Reputation as Cannibals—Reception at Court—Acting the Physician again—Royal Mendicancy.
From The Discovery of the Source of the Nile by Speke, John Hanning
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
