beggar

英 ['begə] 美['bɛɡɚ]

复数: beggars;第三人称单数: beggars;过去式: beggared;现在分词: beggaring;

beggar (n.): c. 1200, from Old French begart, originally a member of the Beghards, lay brothers of mendicants in the Low Countries, from Middle Dutch beggaert "mendicant," of uncertain origin, with pejorative suffix (see -ard). Compare Beguine. Early folk etymology connected the English word with bag. Form with -ar attested from 14c., but begger was more usual 15c.-17c. The feminine form beggestere is attested as a surname from c. 1300. Beggar's velvet was an old name for "dust bunnies." "Beggers should be no choosers" is in Heywood (1562).
beggar (v.): "reduce to poverty," mid-15c., from beggar (n.). Related: Beggared; beggaring. Figurative use by 1640s.

1. He warned that lifting copyright restrictions could beggar the industry.: 他警告说解除版权限制会使这个行业一贫如洗。