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mendicant

- 5 dictionary results

men⋅di⋅cant

[men-di-kuhnt]
–adjective
1. begging; practicing begging; living on alms.
2. pertaining to or characteristic of a beggar.
–noun
3. a person who lives by begging; beggar.
4. a member of any of several orders of friars that originally forbade ownership of property, subsisting mostly on alms.

Origin:
1425–75; late ME < L mendīcant- (s. of mendīcāns), prp. of mendīcāre to beg, equiv. to mendīc(us) beggarly, needy + -ant- -ant
men·di·cant   (měn'dĭ-kənt)   
adj.  Depending on alms for a living; practicing begging.
n.  
  1. A beggar.
  2. A member of an order of friars forbidden to own property in common, who work or beg for their living.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin mendīcāns, mendīcant-, present participle of mendīcāre, to beg, from mendīcus, needy, beggar, from mendum, physical defect.]
men'di·can·cy, men·dic'i·ty (-dĭs'ĭ-tē) n.

Mendicant

Men"di*cant\, a. [L. mendicans, -antis, p. pr. of mendicare to beg, fr. mendicus beggar, indigent.] Practicing beggary; begging; living on alms; as, mendicant friars.

Mendicant orders (R. C. Ch.), certain monastic orders which are forbidden to acquire landed property and are required to be supported by alms, esp. the Franciscans, the Dominicans, the Carmelites, and the Augustinians.

Mendicant

Men"di*cant\, n. A beggar; esp., one who makes a business of begging; specifically, a begging friar.

mendicant 
1474, from L. mendicantem (nom. mendicans) "beggar," prp. of mendicare "to beg," from mendicus "beggar," originally "cripple" (connection via cripples who beg), from menda "fault, physical defect" (see mendacious). Earlier form in M.E. was mendinant (1362), from O.Fr. mendinant, prp. of mendiner "to beg," from the same L. source.
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