beggary Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a solicitation for money or food (especially in the street by an apparently penniless person)
    mendicancy; begging.
  2. noun the state of being a beggar or mendicant
    mendicity; mendicancy.
    • they were reduced to mendicancy

WordNet

Beg"gar*y noun
Etymology
OE. beggerie. See Beggar, n.
Definitions
  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 adjective
Definitions
  1. Beggarly. Obs. B. Jonson.

Webster 1913