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Definition of Mendicant
1. Noun. A male member of a religious order that originally relied solely on alms.
Generic synonyms: Religious
Specialized synonyms: Carmelite, White Friar, Black Friar, Blackfriar, Dominican, Friar Preacher, Franciscan, Grey Friar, Augustinian
2. Adjective. Practicing beggary. "Mendicant friars"
3. Noun. A pauper who lives by begging.
Specialized synonyms: Beggarman, Beggarwoman, Cadger, Mooch, Moocher, Scrounger, Panhandler, Sannyasi, Sannyasin, Sanyasi
Specialized synonyms: Lazarus
Generic synonyms: Pauper
Derivative terms: Beggar, Beggarly
Definition of Mendicant
1. a. Practicing beggary; begging; living on alms; as, mendicant friars.
2. n. A beggar; esp., one who makes a business of begging; specifically, a begging friar.
Definition of Mendicant
1. Adjective. Depending on alms for a living. ¹
2. Adjective. Of or pertaining to a beggar. ¹
3. Adjective. Of or pertaining to a member of a religious order forbidden to own property, and who must beg for a living. ¹
4. Noun. A pauper who lives by begging. ¹
5. Noun. A religious friar forbidden to own personal property who begs for a living. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Mendicant
1. [n -S]
Medical Definition of Mendicant
1. Practicing beggary; begging; living on alms; as, mendicant friars. Mendicant orders, certain monastic orders which are forbidden to acquire landed property and are required to be supported by alms, especially. The Franciscans, the Dominicans, the Carmelites, and the Augustinians. Origin: L. Mendicans, -antis, p. Pr. Of mendicare to beg, fr. Mendicus beggar, indigent. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Mendicant
Literary usage of Mendicant
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language by William Dwight Whitney (1890)
"The condition of being a mendicant; the state of beggary, or the act of begging-
It was ... Practising beggary; living by alms or doles: as, a mendicant ..."
2. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the by Charles George Herbermann, Edward Aloysius Pace, Condé Bénoist Pallen, Thomas Joseph Shahan, John Joseph Wynne (1913)
"Although the zenith of the mendicant orders had already passed he was ... Thus the
order ceased to be eremitical and became one of the mendicant orders. ..."
3. Reformers Before the Reformation: Principally in Germany and the Netherlands by Carl Ullmann, Robert Menzies (1855)
"These attacks proceeded from the clergy; and still more from the mendicant monks.
As Gerhard in his day had given offence to the clergy by his discourses, ..."
4. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: “a” Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature edited by Hugh Chisholm (1911)
"The word " mendicant," also found in the French form " mendiant/' appears to have
come into use through the begging friars. mendicant MOVEMENT AND ORDERS. ..."
5. The History of English Poetry: From the Close of the Eleventh Century to the by Thomas Warton (1840)
"Constitution antl Character of the four orders of mendicant Friars. ... the articles
of which, he applies by turns to the four orders of mendicant friars. ..."
6. Strikers, Communists, Tramps and Detectives by Allan Pinkerton (1878)
"mendicant TRAMPS INSTANCES WHERE PROMINENT PERSONS HAVE BECOME CONFIRMED TRAMPS.
THE tramp has always existed in some form or other, and he will continue on ..."
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