mendicity

Variant of mendicant

mendicant definition

men·di·cant (men′di kənt)

adjective

  1. asking for alms; begging
  2. of or characteristic of a beggar
  3. designating or of any of various religious orders whose members originally held no personal or community property, living mostly on alms

Etymology: L mendicans (gen. mendicantis), prp. of mendicare, to beg < mendicus, needy: for base see mendacious

noun

  1. a beggar; person who begs for alms
  2. a mendicant friar

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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