See Abraham man in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "Pre-1561. 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 attested in The Fraternity of Vagabonds (1561) by John Awdely.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "Abraham men",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "Abraham-man",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
},
{
"form": "Abrahamman",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
},
{
"form": "Abram man",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
},
{
"form": "Abram-man",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
},
{
"form": "Abramman",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "Abraham men"
},
"expansion": "Abraham man (plural Abraham men)",
"name": "en-noun"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "UK",
"3": "thieves",
"4": "obsolete"
},
"expansion": "(UK, thieves' cant, obsolete)",
"name": "tlb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "49 51",
"kind": "other",
"name": "British English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "61 39",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English Thieves' Cant",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "74 26",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "73 27",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 1 entry",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "74 26",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A mentally ill beggar."
],
"id": "en-Abraham_man-en-noun-t4tveYdF",
"links": [
[
"mentally ill",
"mentally ill"
],
[
"beggar",
"beggar"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "49 51",
"kind": "other",
"name": "British English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "5 95",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "People",
"orig": "en:People",
"parents": [
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"derived": [
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"word": "Abraham sham"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"word": "Abram sham"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"word": "sham Abraham"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"word": "sham Abram"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"word": "do Abram"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"word": "Abraham suit"
},
{
"_dis1": "5 95",
"word": "Abraham work"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1561, John Awdely, The Fraternitye of Vacabondes:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1608, Thomas Dekker, The Bel-Man of London, J. M. Dent & Sons, published 1905, An Abraham-man, pages 98–99:",
"text": "Of all the mad rascalls (that are of this wing) the Abraham-man is the most phantastick: The fellow (quoth this old Lady of the Lake unto me) that sat halfe naked (at table to day) from the girdle upward, is the best Abraham-man that ever came to my house and the notablest villaine: he sweares he hath bin in bedlam, and will talke frantickly of purpose[…]",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Any beggar who pretends to be ill, physically or mentally, to obtain alms."
],
"id": "en-Abraham_man-en-noun-~TXMV3YI",
"links": [
[
"beggar",
"beggar"
],
[
"pretend",
"pretend"
],
[
"ill",
"ill"
],
[
"alms",
"alms"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(by extension) Any beggar who pretends to be ill, physically or mentally, to obtain alms."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "44 56",
"word": "Abram"
},
{
"_dis1": "44 56",
"word": "Abram-cove"
},
{
"_dis1": "44 56",
"word": "Abram cove"
},
{
"_dis1": "44 56",
"word": "Abraham-cove"
},
{
"_dis1": "44 56",
"word": "Abraham cove"
},
{
"_dis1": "44 56",
"word": "Bedlam beggar"
},
{
"_dis1": "44 56",
"word": "God's minstrel"
},
{
"_dis1": "44 56",
"word": "Poor Tom"
},
{
"_dis1": "44 56",
"word": "Tom of Bedlam"
},
{
"_dis1": "44 56",
"word": "Tom of Bedlam's man"
}
],
"tags": [
"broadly"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈeɪ.bɹəˌhæm mæn/",
"tags": [
"US"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈeɪ.bɹə.həm mæn/",
"tags": [
"US"
]
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-Abraham man.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/57/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-Abraham_man.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-Abraham_man.wav.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/57/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-Abraham_man.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-Abraham_man.wav.ogg"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Abraham-men",
"John Awdely"
],
"word": "Abraham man"
}
{
"categories": [
"British English",
"English Thieves' Cant",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English eponyms",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English obsolete terms",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"en:People"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "Abraham sham"
},
{
"word": "Abram sham"
},
{
"word": "sham Abraham"
},
{
"word": "sham Abram"
},
{
"word": "do Abram"
},
{
"word": "Abraham suit"
},
{
"word": "Abraham work"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Pre-1561. 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 attested in The Fraternity of Vagabonds (1561) by John Awdely.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "Abraham men",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
},
{
"form": "Abraham-man",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
},
{
"form": "Abrahamman",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
},
{
"form": "Abram man",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
},
{
"form": "Abram-man",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
},
{
"form": "Abramman",
"tags": [
"alternative"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "Abraham men"
},
"expansion": "Abraham man (plural Abraham men)",
"name": "en-noun"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "UK",
"3": "thieves",
"4": "obsolete"
},
"expansion": "(UK, thieves' cant, obsolete)",
"name": "tlb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"glosses": [
"A mentally ill beggar."
],
"links": [
[
"mentally ill",
"mentally ill"
],
[
"beggar",
"beggar"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1561, John Awdely, The Fraternitye of Vacabondes:",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1608, Thomas Dekker, The Bel-Man of London, J. M. Dent & Sons, published 1905, An Abraham-man, pages 98–99:",
"text": "Of all the mad rascalls (that are of this wing) the Abraham-man is the most phantastick: The fellow (quoth this old Lady of the Lake unto me) that sat halfe naked (at table to day) from the girdle upward, is the best Abraham-man that ever came to my house and the notablest villaine: he sweares he hath bin in bedlam, and will talke frantickly of purpose[…]",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Any beggar who pretends to be ill, physically or mentally, to obtain alms."
],
"links": [
[
"beggar",
"beggar"
],
[
"pretend",
"pretend"
],
[
"ill",
"ill"
],
[
"alms",
"alms"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(by extension) Any beggar who pretends to be ill, physically or mentally, to obtain alms."
],
"tags": [
"broadly"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈeɪ.bɹəˌhæm mæn/",
"tags": [
"US"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˈeɪ.bɹə.həm mæn/",
"tags": [
"US"
]
},
{
"audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-Abraham man.wav",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/57/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-Abraham_man.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-Abraham_man.wav.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/57/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-Abraham_man.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-Abraham_man.wav.ogg"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "Abram"
},
{
"word": "Abram-cove"
},
{
"word": "Abram cove"
},
{
"word": "Abraham-cove"
},
{
"word": "Abraham cove"
},
{
"word": "Bedlam beggar"
},
{
"word": "God's minstrel"
},
{
"word": "Poor Tom"
},
{
"word": "Tom of Bedlam"
},
{
"word": "Tom of Bedlam's man"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Abraham-men",
"John Awdely"
],
"word": "Abraham man"
}
Download raw JSONL data for Abraham man meaning in English (3.6kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-02-21 using wiktextract (7c21d10 and f2e72e5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.