maund, v. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

maund v.

also maund it, mawnd

[? Fr. mendier/quémendier, to beg, ult. Lat. mendicus, a beggar, the root of the SE mendicant. Note Rom. mang, to beg]

(UK Und.) to ask or require; thus to beg; thus maunding n. and adj.

c.1566		Harman Caveat for Common Cursetours in Viles & Furnivall (1907) 84: to maunde to aske or require.
1592		Groundworke of Conny-catching A3: Maund of this Morte what bene peck is in hir ken.
1608		Dekker Lanthorne and Candle-Light Ch. 1: If we mawnd Pannam, lap, or Ruff-peck.
1610		Rowlands Martin Mark-all 39: Maunding begging. What maund doe you beake, what kind of begging vse you? [Ibid.] 42: If that she were dead [...] Then would I pad and maund with thee.
c.1635		Cunning Northern Beggar in Ribton-Turner (1887) n.p.: I will by my maunding / Get some reliefe / To ease my griefe.
c.1660		‘The Knight and the Beggar-Wench’ in Euing Broadside Ballads No. 155: This Beggar I shall describe [...] was one of the maunding tribe.
1665		Head Eng. Rogue I 44: Having sufficiently warmed our brains with humming Liquor, which our Lower (Silver) shall procure; if our deceitful Maunding (Begging) cannot, we then sing a catch or two in our own Language.
1674		‘The Beggars Curse’ Head Canting Academy (1674) 14: [as cit. 1608].
1688		R. Holme Academy of Armory Ch. iii item 68c: Canting Terms used by Beggars, Vagabonds, Cheaters, Cripples and Bedlams. [...] Mawnding, Asking. Mawnd, Beg.
c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Maund-ing c. to Beg, Begging.
1707		J. Shirley Triumph of Wit 182: He [upright man] stands in statu quo, all the Morts, Dells, and Doxies, or Women of the several Degrees and Orders amongst them, are at his Command; as likewise the best of whatever they Filch or Maund, that is, Steal or Beg.
1724		Coles Eng. Dict.
1754		Scoundrel’s Dict. 15: To beg – Maund.
1785		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Mawnding, asking, or begging, (cant).
1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (2nd, 3rd edn) n.p.: Maunding. Asking or begging.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1788].
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue [as cit. 1788].
1859, 1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc.
1868		Liverpool Mercury 2 Dec. 3/2: They also learned [...] all the accompaniments of maunding and imposture.
1869		Australasian (Melbourne) 17 July 8/3: At every step we have evidence of Hindoo origin. For instance [...] maung, to beg [...] is still a cant word, ‘maundering on the fly’ meaning to beg in the streets.
1873		Sl. Dict.

In phrases

maund abram (v.) [abram n.]

to beg while posing as a madman.

1610

Rowlands Martin Mark-all 36: Abram madde. 37: He maunds Abram, he begs as a madde man.

maunding cove (n.) (also maunding mort, ...rogue) [ cove n.]

a beggar.

c.1603		‘Sack for My Money’ in Collier Book of Roxburghe Ballads (1847) 180: A maunding cove that doth it love .
1664		T. Jordan ‘A Canting Rogue Parallel’d with a Phanatick’ in A Royal Arbor 71: Nurs’d by a maunding mort, whose mother tongue / Directs him first the way to nipp a bung.
1754		Scoundrel’s Dict. 24: You maunding Rogues, beware how you / do steal, for Search is made.

maund on the pad (v.) (also maund upon the pad) [pad n.¹]

to beg on the street or highway.

1622		Beaumont & Fletcher Beggar’s Bush II i: Do you hear? / You must hereafter maund on your own pads, he says. [Ibid.] III iv: To maund on the pad, and strike all the cheats, / To mill from the Ruffmans, Commission and slates.
1626		Jonson Staple of News II i: A very canter, I, sir, one that maunds Upon the pad.
1754		Scoundrel’s Dict. 21: Keep you own Ways. – Maund on your own pads.