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

Example Sentences

The Order of the Hermits of St Augustine was established in 1256 when the papacy объединed several hermit groups from central Italy into a single mendicant order.

From Science Daily • Feb. 2, 2026

Joining the Order of Saint Augustine, a mendicant order of the Catholic Church, Mendel was able to spend his life as a monk and therefore not have to worry about his livelihood.

From Salon • Jun. 6, 2023

Clare doesn’t understand why this son of a silk merchant is wandering around like a nutty mendicant, but she recognizes what they have in common and suspects he has much to teach her.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 3, 2021

It is a mendicant reduced to hoping to “extend and pretend” forever.

From Washington Post • Jun. 19, 2015

At no long interval, Odysseus came through his own doorway as a mendicant, humped like a bundle of rags over his stick.

From "The Odyssey" by Homer