ˈbeˌgärd, -egˌhärd, -egərd noun
( -s )
Usage: usually capitalized
Etymology: Medieval Latin Beghardus, Begardus, probably from Old French begard
: a member of one of many semimonastic associations of laymen founded in the 13th century in the Low Countries in imitation of the Beguines and eventually proscribed as heretical by the medieval church and in the 14th century all but extinct