Abraham man
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Abraham man
- /ˈeɪ.bɹəˌhæm mæn/ US
- /ˈeɪ.bɹə.həm mæn/ US
Where it comes from
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.
noun Abraham men · Abraham-man · Abrahamman · Abram man · Abram-man · Abramman
- A mentally ill beggar.
- Any beggar who pretends to be ill, physically or mentally, to obtain alms. An Abraham man is he that walketh bare armed, and bare legged, and fayneth hymselfe mad, and caryeth a packe of wool, or a stycke with baken on it, or such lyke toy, and nameth himselfe poore Tom.
Similar: Abraham cove, Abraham-cove, Abram, Abram-cove, Abram cove, Bedlam beggar, God's minstrel, Poor Tom, Tom of Bedlam, Tom of Bedlam's man
Thesaurus
noun
Similar: Abraham cove, Abraham-cove, Abram, Abram-cove, Abram cove, Bedlam beggar, God's minstrel, Poor Tom, Tom of Bedlam, Tom of Bedlam's man
Talk about this word "Abraham man." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/abraham%20man. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. Abraham man. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/abraham%20man "Abraham man." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/abraham%20man.Cite this
@misc{abraham_man_2026,
title = {Abraham man},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/abraham%20man},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
