# beggar

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈbɛɡɚ/ · frequency rank #23,179

## Definitions
1. A person who begs.
2. A person suffering from extreme poverty.
3. A mean or wretched person; a scoundrel.
4. A minced oath for bugger.
5. the last placer in Tycoon

## 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”).

## Easily confused with
- **bigger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/beggar-vs-bigger)
- **Bengal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/beggar-vs-bengal)
- **begged** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/beggar-vs-begged)
- **bugger** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/beggar-vs-bugger)
- **Biggar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/beggar-vs-biggar)
- **bear** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-beggar)
- **began** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/began-vs-beggar)

## Common misspellings (7)
`bbeggar`, `begagr`, `begar`, `beggarr`, `beggra`, `bgegar`, `ebggar`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/beggar