Part 585

Beg"gar*hood (&?;), n. The condition of being a beggar; also, the class of beggars.

Beg"gar*ism (&?;), n. Beggary. [R.]

Beg"gar*li*ness (&?;), n. The quality or state of being beggarly; meanness.

Beg"gar*ly (&?;), a. 1. In the condition of, or like, a beggar; suitable for a beggar; extremely indigent; poverty-stricken; mean; poor; contemptible. "A bankrupt, beggarly fellow." South. "A beggarly fellowship." Swift. "Beggarly elements." Gal. iv. 9.

2. Produced or occasioned by beggary. [Obs.]

Beggarly sins, that is, those sins which idleness and beggary usually betray men to; such as lying, flattery, stealing, and dissimulation. Jer. Taylor.

Beg"gar*ly, adv. In an indigent, mean, or despicable manner; in the manner of a beggar.

Beg"gar's lice` (&?;). (Bot.) The prickly fruit or seed of certain plants (as some species of Echinospermum and Cynoglossum) which cling to the clothing of those who brush by them.

Beg"gar's ticks` (&?;). The bur marigold (Bidens) and its achenes, which are armed with barbed awns, and adhere to clothing and fleeces with unpleasant tenacity.

Beg"gar*y (&?;), n. [OE. beggerie. See Beggar, n.] 1. The act of begging; the state of being a beggar; mendicancy; extreme poverty.

2. Beggarly appearance. [R.]

The freedom and the beggary of the old studio. Thackeray.

Syn. -- Indigence; want; penury; mendicancy.

Beg"gar*y, a. Beggarly. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

Beg"ge*stere (&?;), n. [Beg + - ster.] A beggar. [Obs.] Chaucer.

{ Be*ghard" Be*guard" } (&?;), n. [F. bégard, béguard; cf. G. beghard, LL. Beghardus, Begihardus, Begardus. Prob. from the root of beguine + -ard or -hard. See Beguine.] (Eccl. Hist.) One of an association of religious laymen living in imitation of the Beguines. They arose in the thirteenth century, were afterward subjected to much persecution, and were suppressed by Innocent X. in 1650. Called also Beguins.

Be*gild" (&?;), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Begilded or Begilt (&?;).] To gild. B. Jonson.

Be*gin" (&?;), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Began (&?;), Begun (&?;); p. pr. & vb. n. Beginning (&?;).] [AS. beginnan (akin to OS. biginnan, D. & G. beginnen, OHG. biginnan, Goth., du-ginnan, Sw. begynna, Dan. begynde); pref. be- + an assumed ginnan. √31. See Gin to begin.] 1. To have or commence an independent or first existence; to take rise; to commence.

Vast chain of being! which from God began. Pope.

2. To do the first act or the first part of an action; to enter upon or commence something new, as a new form or state of being, or course of action; to take the first step; to start. "Tears began to flow." Dryden.

When I begin, I will also make an end. 1 Sam. iii. 12.

Be*gin", v. t. 1. To enter on; to commence.

Ye nymphs of Solyma ! begin the song. Pope.

2. To trace or lay the foundation of; to make or place a beginning of.

The apostle begins our knowledge in the creatures, which leads us to the knowledge of God. Locke.

Syn. -- To commence; originate; set about; start.

Be*gin", n. Beginning. [Poetic & Obs.] Spenser.

Be*gin"ner (&?;), n. One who begins or originates anything. Specifically: A young or inexperienced practitioner or student; a tyro.