Word of the Day

Monday, June 07, 2004

mendicant

\MEN-dih-kunt\ , noun;

A beggar; especially, one who makes a business of begging.

A member of an order of friars forbidden to acquire landed property and required to be supported by alms.

adjective:

Practicing beggary; begging; living on alms; as, mendicant friars.

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Quotes:

Money has ever posed problems. Not even love, said Gladstone, has made so many fools of men. Throughout time the most obvious but universal dilemma -- that there is never enough of it -- has confounded everyone, from mendicants to monarchs, and their ministers.

-- Janet Gleeson, Millionaire

She was well dressed, obviously not a mendicant.

-- William Safire, Scandalmonger

Origin:

Mendicant derives from Latin mendicare, "to beg," from mendicus, "beggar."