mendicant

English

WOTD – 10 July 2008

Etymology

From Middle English mendicant, from Latin mendīcāns, present participle of mendīcō (“beg”). Compare French mendiant.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛn.dɪ.kənt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

mendicant (not comparable)

1. Depending on alms for a living.
2. Of or pertaining to a beggar.
3. Of or pertaining to a member of a religious order forbidden to own property, and who must beg for a living.

Derived terms

• mendicancy
• mendicant order

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *mend- (0 c, 10 e)

Translations

depending on alms

• Bulgarian: просещ (bg) (prosešt)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: žebravý
• Dutch: bedel-
• Finnish: kerjäläis- (fi)
• French: mendiant (fr) m
• German: Bettel- (de)
• Latin: mendīcāns
• Polish: żebrzący
• Portuguese: mendicante (pt)
• Russian: нищенствующий (ru) (niščenstvujuščij)
• Spanish: mendicante (es)

of or pertaining to a beggar

• Bulgarian: просешки (proseški)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: kerjäläis- (fi)
• Polish: żebraczy (pl)
• Russian: нищенский (ru) (niščenskij)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

of or pertaining to a member of a religious order who begs

• Catalan: mendicant (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: žebravý
• Finnish: kerjäläis- (fi)
• Polish: mendykancki (pl), żebraczy (pl)
• Portuguese: mendicante (pt)
• Spanish: mendicante (es)

Noun

mendicant (plural mendicants)

1. A pauper who lives by begging.
   • 1856 May, Thomas Hughes, quoting Charles Kingsley, “Prefatory Memoir”, in Charles Kingsley, Alton Locke, Tailor and Poet. […], London: Macmillan and Co., published 1876, →OCLC, page lvi:

     I made £150 by Alton Locke, and never lost a farthing; and I got, not in spite of, but by the rows, a name and a standing with many a one who would never have heard of me otherwise, and I should have been a stercoraceous mendicant if I had hollowed when I got a facer, while I was winning by the cross, though I didn't mean to fight one.

   • 2025 March 3, Howard LaFranchi, “Ukrainians flock to Zelenskyy’s banner, but hope for solution with US”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

     Across Ukraine, the initial shock over the confrontation, which culminated in President Donald Trump summarily dismissing Mr. Zelenskyy from the White House as if he were some ungrateful mendicant, has subsided.

2. A religious friar, forbidden to own personal property, who begs for a living.

Translations

beggar

• Bulgarian: просяк (bg) m (prosjak)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Crimean Tatar: tilençi
• Dutch: bedelaar (nl) m
• Esperanto: almozulo, almozisto
• Finnish: kerjäläinen (fi)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Bettler (de) m
• Hungarian: koldus (hu)
• Italian: mendicante (it)
• Latin: mendīcus m
• Navajo: adókeedí
• Plautdietsch: Pracha m
• Polish: żebrak (pl) m, żebraczka (pl) f
• Portuguese: mendigo (pt)
• Punjabi: ਮੰਗਤਾ m (maṅgtā)
• Romanian: cerșetor (ro) m, cerșetoare (ro) f
• Russian: ни́щий (ru) (níščij), попроша́йка (ru) (poprošájka)
• Spanish: mendigo (es) m
• Swahili: mwombaji (sw)
• Tagalog: tanglo
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: жебрак m (žebrak), прохач m (proxač)

friar

• Bengali: দরবেশ (bn) (dôrbeś)
• Catalan: mendicant (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: bedelmonnik m
• Finnish: kerjäläismunkki
• German: Bettelmönch (de)
• Manx: braar boght m
• Polish: mendykant (pl) m
• Russian: нищенствующий мона́х m (niščenstvujuščij monáx)
• Spanish: please add this translation if you can

Catalan

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin mendicans.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [mən.diˈkan]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [mən.diˈkant]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [men.diˈkant]

Adjective

mendicant m or f (masculine and feminine plural mendicants)

1. (religion) mendicant
2. begging

Related terms

• mendicar

Noun

mendicant m or f (plural mendicants)

1. (religion) mendicant
2. beggar

   Synonym: captaire

Further reading

• “mendicant” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Etymology 2

Verb

mendicant

1. gerund of mendicar

Latin

Verb

mendīcant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of mendīcō