beggar

Etymology

The OED, the Shorter Oxford and Merriam-Webster take it as formed from English beg + -er, as Middle English beggare and beggere; the spelling with -ar is found from the 14th century, but begger was the usual form in the 15th–17th centuries.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Etymonline, the American Heritage Dictionary and Barnhart instead derive it, perhaps, from Old French begart, a member of the Beghards, lay brotherhoods of mendicants that arose in the Low Countries in the early 13th century, from Middle Dutch beggaert (“mendicant”), formed with the suffix that gave English -ard.^[6][7][8] Skeat derived the French word from a man's name, “Begue”.^[9] Barnhart calls it a matter of conjecture whether the Middle Dutch stem is from begine, a member of the Beguines.^[8] The verb it is formed from is itself of uncertain origin, perhaps from the rare Old English bedecian (“to beg”);^[6][10][11] the OED considers a back-formation from the French noun the most likely source.^[6][2] The old idea that a beggar was a "bagger", one who carries a bag, has no support.^[2][6] The verb beggar is from the noun.^[2][3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who asks for alms, especially as a way of living: before 1250, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[2][8] Etymonline dates it to about 1200, and Barnhart probably before 1200.^[6][8]

Semantic evolution

In 1340 the word was extended to anyone in need, whether begging or not.^[2][6] Already in the Cursor Mundi (before 1400) it was a term of contempt, a mean or low fellow,^[2] and Wyclif applied it to mendicant friars and Beghards.^[2] In the 16th and early 17th centuries a beggar could also be anyone who begged a favour, and even one who "begged the question" in argument; both senses are obsolete.^[2] The familiar or playful use, as in lucky beggar, is recorded from 1834, in Marryat's Peter Simple,^[2][12][6] and in the early 20th century it also served as a euphemism for bugger.^[2] The verb, "to reduce to beggary", is recorded from 1528;^[2] from Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra it also meant to go beyond the resources of something, as in beggar description,^[2][6] and to beggar belief follows in 1780.^[2] In dialect the verb was used of crops impoverishing the land, and in Shetland and Lincolnshire as a mild oath.^[13]

Timeline

• before 1250 – a person who lives by asking for alms.^[2][8]
• 1340 – a very poor person.^[2][6]
• c. 1384 – a mendicant friar or Beghard.^[2]
• before 1400 – a mean or low fellow.^[2]
• 1528 – verb, to impoverish.^[2]
• before 1538 – sturdy beggar, an able-bodied man who begs.^[2]
• before 1616 – verb, to exceed the resources of, as in beggar description.^[2][6]
• 1780 – to beggar belief.^[2]
• 1834 – a fellow, used familiarly or playfully.^[2][12]
• 1859 – a person very keen on or good at something.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who begs, especially one who lives by asking for money or food: A beggar sat outside the station with a paper cup.^[14][4][3]
2. A very poor person; a pauper.^[14][4][3]
3. (informal, chiefly British) A person or fellow, often used jokingly or with sympathy: You lucky beggar!^[14][2][12]
4. beggars can't be choosers: people in need must take what they are offered.^[3]

Verb

1. To make someone poor; to impoverish: The long war beggared the province.^[14][4][2]
2. To go beyond the power or resources of, especially in beggar description and beggar belief.^[14][4][2]

Word family

• beggarhood
• beggarly
• beggary
• beggardom
• beggar-my-neighbor

Related words

• beg
• beguine
• -ard

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
12. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
13. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
14. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins