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mendicant
- 5 dictionary resultsmen⋅di⋅cant
[men-di-kuh
nt] 
–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
1425–75; late ME < L mendīcant- (s. of mendīcāns), prp. of mendīcāre to beg, equiv. to mendīc(us) beggarly, needy + -ant- -ant
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To mendicant
| men·di·cant (měn'dĭ-kənt) adj. Depending on alms for a living; practicing begging. n.
[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. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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