Choose the word which is different from the rest.

The answer is A. Mendicant.

A mendicant is a person who lives by begging. An ascetic is a person who practices severe self-discipline and self-denial, typically for religious reasons. A pious person is devoutly religious. A hermit is a person who lives in seclusion, often for religious reasons.

A mendicant is different from the other options because a mendicant is not necessarily religious. A mendicant may beg for money or food for any reason, not just for religious purposes. The other options are all associated with religion in some way.