Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Jacobin
1.
(Eccl. Hist.)
A Dominican friar; – so named because, before the French Revolution, that order had a convent in the
Rue St. Jacques
, Paris
. 2.
One of a society of violent agitators in France, during the revolution of 1789, who held secret meetings in the Jacobin convent in the
Rue St. Jacques
, Paris
, and concerted measures to control the proceedings of the National Assembly. Hence:
A plotter against an existing government; a turbulent demagogue. 3.
(Zool.)
A fancy pigeon, in which the feathers of the neck form a hood, – whence the name. The wings and tail are long, and the beak moderately short.
Webster 1828 Edition
Jacobin
JAC'OBIN
,Noun.
The Jacobins, in France, during the late revolution, were a society of violent revolutionists, who held secret meetings in which measures were concerted to direct the proceedings of the National Assembly. Hence, a Jacobin is the member of a club, or other person, who opposes government in a secret and unlawful manner or by violent means; a turbulent demagogue.
Definition 2024
Jacobin
Jacobin
See also: jacobin
English
Noun
Jacobin (plural Jacobins)
- (dated) A Dominican friar.
- A member of a radical French political club founded (at an old Jacobin convent) in 1789 and one of the driving forces of the French Revolution.
- 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 429-30:
- The Jacobins acted as a left-of-centre parliamentary pressure group, spending much of their time in coordinating the following day's business in the Assembly.
- 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 429-30:
- (by extension) A political radical.
- A breed of domestic pigeon (known for its feathered hood over its head).
Adjective
Jacobin (not comparable)
- Of, or related to the radical French political club that was a driving force of the French Revolution.
- (by extension) Politically radical.
- 2015, Matthew Quest, "George L. Mosse: Unconventional Historian", New Historian:
- […] Mosse argued the most fascist and totalitarian in particular but also radical Jacobin regimes, continued to have an investment in not merely disciplining human bodies but harnessing their sense of glory toward worshiping themselves […]
- 2015, Matthew Quest, "George L. Mosse: Unconventional Historian", New Historian:
References
- Collins Shorter English Dictionary
- Napoleon - a biography by Frank McLynn Pages 209-10, 212, 213, 220,221,222,224,233,