beggar

The story

1. Middle Dutch · derived frombeggaert“mendicant”
2. Old French · derived frombegart
3. Middle English · derived frombeggen“to beg”
4. Middle English · inherited frombeggere
5. English todaybeggar

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”).