Definition of "beggary" in English

noun

1. The state of a beggar; indigence, extreme poverty.

   • 1782, Frances Burney, Cecilia, London: T. Payne & Son and T. Cadell, Volume I, Book I, Chapter 9, p. 128, […] she does not come hither as a beggar, however well the state of beggary may accord with her poverty: she only sollicits the payment of a bill […]

2. The fact or action of begging.

3. Beggarly appearance.

adjective

1. (obsolete) beggarly

   • early 1600s, Beaumont and Fletcher (attributed), The Nice Valour, Act V, Scene 3, in The Works of Mr. Francis Beaumont, and Mr. John Fletcher, London: J. & R. Tonson and S. Draper, 1750, Volume 10, p. 359, This is Love’s beggary right, that now is ours, When Ladies love, and cannot shew their Powers.