Be-ghārd’ or Be-guārd’, n.

n. [Fr. béghart, bégu(i)ard, Ger. beghart, L. Lat. Beghardus, Begehardus, Begihardus, Begardus, from L. Lat. and Romance bagia, Eng. bag, q. v., and the Ger. a. hart. (Goth. hardus, Eng. hard, used as a termination (see ARD), because mendicants carry bags with them for the purpose of begging or asking alms. See BEGUINE.] (Eccl. Hist.) One of a class of Franciscan monks who observed the regulations of their founder with peculiar strictness, holding no property and subsisting by begging from day to day. They also claimed greater purity of principles, and aimed at a reformation of the church. The name was also given to other allied sects. They were sometimes called Beguins.

Mosheim.