mendicant
/ˈmen.dɪ.kənt/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈmen.dɪ.kənt/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈmen-di-kənt/ (ame, mw) · /ˈmendɪkənt/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈmendɪkənt/ (ame, ipa)
mendicant — noun
- mendicantsingular
- mendicantsplural
1. a person who survives on whatever strangers give them, especially someone who ha
a person who survives on whatever strangers give them, especially someone who has joined a religious order built around chosen poverty.
An old mendicant sat outside the temple gates, holding a small wooden bowl.
typical setting: a mendicant + outside + religious site
Tanvi gave her last coins to a blind mendicant near the train station.
give + to + a mendicant
In medieval Europe, mendicants travelled from town to town teaching and asking for food.
The young monk became a mendicant after taking a vow of poverty.
Several mendicants gathered each morning at the back door of the old church.
- benefactor
the giver of money or food, not the receiver
文法句型
a mendicant + verb
give to a mendicant
用法筆記
Subject is usually a person tied to a religious order or pictured in a historical or non-Western setting. In modern everyday English about street begging, 'beggar' or 'homeless person' is far more common.
常見錯誤
mendicant — adjective
- mendicantpositive
- more mendicantcomparative
- most mendicantsuperlative
1. describing a person, or a religious community, whose chosen way of life is to su
describing a person, or a religious community, whose chosen way of life is to survive on what strangers freely give them.
The Franciscans are a mendicant order founded by Saint Francis in the 1200s.
attributive: mendicant + order
Buddhist mendicant monks walk barefoot through Bangkok at dawn to collect rice.
attributive: mendicant + monks
Adaeze wrote her thesis on the medieval mendicant friars who lived among the poor.
The painting shows a mendicant pilgrim resting beside a rough country road.
Several mendicant brotherhoods still survive in southern Europe today.
- begging
everyday English; no religious link
- almsgiving
describes the giving side; sometimes paired with 'mendicant orders'
- endowed
of a religious order: supported by money or land it owns
文法句型
a mendicant + noun (order, monk, friar)
用法筆記
Almost always used attributively before a noun like 'order', 'friar', 'monk', or 'pilgrim'. Predicative use ('the monks are mendicant') sounds odd; learners should stick to the 'mendicant + noun' frame.