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.

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