Hypertext Webster Gateway: "mendicant"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Mendicant \Men"di*cant\, a. [L. mendicans, -antis, p. pr. of
mendicare to beg, fr. mendicus beggar, indigent.]
Practicing beggary; begging; living on alms; as, mendicant
friars.
{Mendicant orders} (R. C. Ch.), certain monastic orders which
are forbidden to acquire landed property and are required
to be supported by alms, esp. the Franciscans, the
Dominicans, the Carmelites, and the Augustinians.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Mendicant \Men"di*cant\, n.
A beggar; esp., one who makes a business of begging;
specifically, a begging friar.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
mendicant
adj : practicing beggary; "mendicant friars"
n 1: a male religious of an order of mendicant preachers of the
gospel [syn: {friar}]
2: a pauper who lives by begging [syn: {beggar}]
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