Abraham man

短语

发音

US /ˈeɪ.bɹəˌhæm mæn/
US /ˈeɪ.bɹə.həm mæn/

词形变化

Abraham men 复数

别名

Abraham-man Abram man

释义与例句

n.
  1. 1.

    A mentally ill beggar.

    英国 废旧
  2. 2.

    Any beggar who pretends to be ill, physically or mentally, to obtain alms.

    引申义

词源

From patients claiming, genuinely or not, to be temporarily discharged from the Abraham ward at Bethlem Royal Hospital (also known as Bedlam), a psychiatric hospital in London, for the purpose of begging. Possibly an allusion to a story in Luke 16, in which the beggar Lazarus ends up in Abraham's bosom. First use appears c. 1561 in The Fraternity of Vagabonds (1561) by John Awdely.

来源：wiktionary