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I was reading the Wikipedia article about Bella Venezia

A witch begged every day from the inn, and Bella Venezia promised her half her fortune if she could put an end to the daughter.

It would seem in this context "begged" would mean "take lodge" but after searching on the internet I couldn't confirm this. What does it mean? It doesn't make sense for it to mean "pleaded with". Is it just a typo in the wikipedia article?

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    It means she asked for food from the inn. merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beg
    – user66974
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 11:20
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    English words often have more than one meaning, so it's important to read all the definitions within the dictionary entry for the word. Begging for food or money is where we get the English noun "beggar" from.
    – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 11:32
  • @Josh61 isn't the usage wrong, it should be "begged at the inn" not "from the inn"?
    – Celeritas
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 12:09
  • @Celeritas have a look at my comment at my answer
    – Helmar
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 12:11
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    @Celeritas Some people today work at home, or work from home. If your occupation is begging, it doesn't seem strange to beg from a place if you're begging at that place.
    – Joshua Taylor
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 14:29

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It means begged as in ask for charity. The original English (from Italo Calvino's Italian Folktales, translated from the Italian by George Martin) was:

Every day an old woman would come to the inn asking for alms, and this old woman was a witch.

The preposition in begged from the inn might be better rendered as begged at the inn, although you'd have to look at the original Italian to be sure. But begged is clearly the correct verb.

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    I like the original English, translated from Italian :P But +1 for the research to confirm the meaning.
    – oerkelens
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 14:11
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    It is "from" because she is asking the inn(keeper) for alms. If it were "at" it would imply she were asking all the patrons / passers-by.
    – OrangeDog
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 17:46
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I think it just means the witch came for food or money every day. Likely leftover food from the inn.

beg [VERB]
1.1 [WITH OBJECT] Acquire (food or money) from someone by begging:
"a piece of bread which I begged from a farmer" (ODO)

EDIT: Regarding the quirky preposition, it is likely either a personification of the business inn rather than the building (Thank you AndyT).

Of course the witch doesn't beg from the building, but from a person working there. But to avoid defining that she always begs from the cook or the inn keeper - which isn't important for her as long as someone from the business inn gives her food.

As Peter Shor points out in the comments, it is possibly a translated text, so the preposition could stem from a wobbly translation from Italian as well.

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  • Isn't the quoted sentence wrong as someone begs from a person, not a place or building (the inn in this case)?
    – Celeritas
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 12:09
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    I assume it is a personification of the building inn. Of course the witch doesn't beg from the building, but from a person working there. But to avoid defining that she always begs from the cook or the inn keeper - which isn't important for her as long as someone from the inn gives her food.
    – Helmar
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 12:11
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    @Helmar - rather than saying it's a personification of the building, I would say it is using "the inn" in the sense of "the business". Much as you might say "Microsoft gave the contract for it's cleaning to Shiny&Clean".
    – AndyT
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 16:39

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