First Known Use: 14th century
Dictionary
mendicant
noun men·di·cant \ˈmen-di-kənt\
: someone (such as a member of a religious group) who lives by asking people for money or food
Full Definition of MENDICANT
1
: beggar 1
2
often capitalized : a member of a religious order (as the Franciscans) combining monastic life and outside religious activity and originally owning neither personal nor community property : friar
— mendicant adjective
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Origin of MENDICANT
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin mendicant-, mendicans, present participle of mendicare to beg, from mendicus beggar — more at amend
Related to MENDICANT
- Synonyms
- beggar, panhandler
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