beggar
/ˈbɛɡɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.17 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Example Sentences
- "“[…] They talk of you as if you were Croesus—and I expect the beggars sponge on you unconscionably.” And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes."
- "Odysseus has returned to his home disguised as a beggar."
- "I'm to be a poor, crawling beggar, sponging for rum, when I might be rolling in a coach!"
- "What does that silly beggar think he's doing?"
- "The beggar seems to have known his business. All fine specimens of the best period."
- "Moreover, the pathing tool, which always has the potential to be a fussy little beggar, is especially uncooperative in career mode where there is a lot of bespoke geometry."
Etymology
From Middle English beggere, beggare, beggar (“beggar”), from Middle English beggen (“to beg”), equivalent to beg + -ar. Alternative etymology derives Middle English beggere, beggare, beggar 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 (see -ard); the order is said to be named after the priest Lambert le Bègue of Liège (French for “Lambert the Stammerer”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈbɛɡɚ/
- British English: /ˈbɛɡə/
Usage
- Colloquial
- British usage
- Transitive verb