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Beg vs Beggar - What's the difference?

beg | beggar |

In transitive terms the difference between beg and beggar

is that beg is to assume, in the phrase {{term|beg the question} while beggar is to exhaust the resources of; to outdo.

As verbs the difference between beg and beggar

is that beg is to request the help of someone, often in the form of money while beggar is to make a beggar of someone; impoverish.

As nouns the difference between beg and beggar

is that beg is a provincial governor under the Ottoman Empire, a bey while beggar is a person who begs.

beg

English

(wikipedia beg)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) (m), assimilation from (etyl) *.

Verb

(begg)
  • to request the help of someone, often in the form of money
    • He begged on the street corner from passers-by.
  • to plead with someone for help, a favor, etc.; to entreat
    • I beg your pardon. I didn't mean to cause offence.
    He begged her to go to the prom with him .
  • * Shakespeare
    • I do beg your good will in this case.
  • * Bible, Matthew xxvii. 58
    • [Joseph] begged the body of Jesus.
  • * 1898 , , (Moonfleet) Chapter 5
    • But that same day came Sam Tewkesbury to the Why Not? about nightfall, and begged a glass of rum, being, as he said, 'all of a shake'
  • to assume, in the phrase (beg the question)
  • (proscribed) to raise a question, in the phrase (beg the question)
  • (legal, obsolete) To ask to be appointed guardian for, or to ask to have a guardian appointed for.
  • * Harrington
    • Else some will beg thee, in the court of wards.
    Usage notes
    * This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See
    Antonyms
    * (raise a question)
    Derived terms
    * beg the question * go begging * beg to differ

    See also

    *

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) (m).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • a provincial governor under the Ottoman Empire, a bey

    • Etymology 3

    beggar

    English

    (wikipedia beggar)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A person who begs.
  • * , chapter=13
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=“[…] They talk of you as if you were Croesus—and I expect the beggars sponge on you unconscionably.” And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes.}}
  • * 1983 , Stanley Rosen, Plato’s Sophist: The Drama of Original & Image , St. Augustine’s Press, p. 62:
    • Odysseus has returned to his home disguised as a beggar .
  • A person suffering from extreme poverty.
  • * 1883 , :
    • I'm to be a poor, crawling beggar , sponging for rum, when I might be rolling in a coach!

    Synonyms

    * (who begs) mendicant, panhandler, schnorrer, spanger, truant * (extremely poor person) palliard, pauper, vagabond

    Derived terms

    * beggarly * beggarliness * beggar's-lice * beggar-tick * beggarweed * beggary * beggars can't be choosers

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make a beggar of someone; impoverish.
  • To exhaust the resources of; to outdo.

    • Synonyms

    * ruin

    Derived terms

    * beggar-my-neighbor * beggar thy neighbor * beggar belief * beggar description

    Anagrams

    * English agent nouns