Etymograph

English

mendiant

Mendiant comes from Latin mendīcāns ‘begging, asking for alms’, from mendīcō ‘beg’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mend- ‘physical defect, fault’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mend-‘physical defect, fault’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmenda‘physical defect, fault’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmendīcus‘beggarly, needy’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmendīcō‘beg’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmendīcānsas mendīcantem‘begging, asking for alms’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentmendiant
  7. Englishtodaysame form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mend-‘physical defect, fault’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmenda‘physical defect, fault’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmendīcus‘beggarly, needy’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmendīcō‘beg’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmendīcānsas mendīcantem‘begging, asking for alms’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentmendiant
  7. Englishtodaysame form

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *mend- ‘physical defect, fault’

amendment, mendacity, mendacious, amendatory, 11 more

Today it means

noun A traditional French Christmas confection, a chocolate disc studded with nuts and dried fruits representing the various mendicant monastic orders.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *mend- / mendiant

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