† mendivauntn.adj.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman and Middle French mendivant, present participle (compare -ant suffix¹) of mendiver to beg (13th cent. in Old French) < Anglo-Norman and Old French mendif (1170), altered form (with substitution of suffix; compare -ive suffix) of mendi needy, indigent, beggar (c1120) < classical Latin mendīcus (see mendicant n. and adj.). Compare mendinant n. and adj. Anglo-Norman Dict. s.v. mendivant lists possible examples of Anglo-Norman mendivant , mendivaunt as an adjective in the senses ‘destitute’ (early 14th cent.) and ‘mendicant’ (late 14th cent.), and as a noun in the sense ‘beggar’ (15th cent.), though the manuscript forms are ambiguous, and any or all of them could equally represent the etymon of mendinant n. and adj. (see further discussion at that entry).