English

Noun

beggary ‎(plural beggaries)

1. The state of a beggar; indigence, extreme poverty.
   • 1835, William Gilmore Simms, The Partisan, Harper, Chapter XII, page 150:

     The matter to be decided involved, in addition to the personal risks of life and liberty, the probable forfeiture of an immense estate, and the beggary, in consequence, of an only and beloved daughter.

   • 1938, George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London, Chapter XXX,

     There was, clearly, no future for him but beggary and a death in the workhouse.

2. The fact or action of begging.
3. Beggarly appearance.
   • Thackeray

     The freedom and the beggary of the old studio.

Translations

Adjective

beggary ‎(comparative more beggary, superlative most beggary)

1. (obsolete) beggarly

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ben Jonson to this entry?)