mendicant meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

mendicant

adj

UK, US /ˈmɛn.dɪ.kənt/

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

Depending on alms for a living.

Of or pertaining to a beggar.

Of or pertaining to a member of a religious order forbidden to own property, and who must beg for a living.

noun

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

A pauper who lives by begging.

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

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