beggar
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From Old French begart, originally a member of the Beghards, a lay brotherhood of mendicants in the Low Countries, from Middle Dutch beggaert "mendicant," with pejorative suffix; the order is said to be named after the Liege priest Lambert le Bègue (French for "Lambert the Stammerer"); others claim it's from Middle English beggere or beggare, from beggen (“‘to beg’”) + -are (“‘-er’”)
[edit] Pronunciation
- Audio (US)help, file
- Rhymes: -ɛɡə(r)
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
beggar (plural beggars)
- A person who begs.
- 1983, Stanley Rosen, Plato’s Sophist: The Drama of Original & Image, St. Augustine’s Press, p. 62:
- Odysseus has returned to his home disguised as a beggar.
- 1983, Stanley Rosen, Plato’s Sophist: The Drama of Original & Image, St. Augustine’s Press, p. 62:
- A person suffering from extreme poverty.
- 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island:
- I'm to be a poor, crawling beggar, sponging for rum, when I might be rolling in a coach!
- 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island:
[edit] Synonyms
- (who begs): mendicant, panhandler, schnorrer, spanger, truant
- (extremely poor person): palliard, pauper, vagabond
[edit] Derived terms
terms derived from beggar (noun)
[edit] Translations
person who begs
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person suffering poverty
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Translations to be checked
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[edit] Verb
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Infinitive |
Third person singular |
Simple past |
Past participle |
Present participle |
to beggar (third-person singular simple present beggars, present participle beggaring, simple past and past participle beggared)
(transitive)
- To make a beggar of someone; impoverish.
- To exhaust the resources of; to outdo.
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Derived terms
terms derived from beggar (verb)
[edit] Translations
to make a beggar of someone
to exhaust the resources of
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[edit] Anagrams
- Anagrams of abeggr
- bagger