Jesuit

American  

[jezh-oo-it, jez-oo-, jez-yoo-] / ˈdʒɛʒ u ɪt, ˈdʒɛz u-, ˈdʒɛz yu- /

noun

1. a member of a Roman Catholic religious order Society of Jesus founded by Ignatius of Loyola in 1534.

2. (often lowercase) a crafty, intriguing, or equivocating person: so called in allusion to the methods ascribed to the order by its opponents.

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adjective

1. of or relating to Jesuits or Jesuitism.

Jesuit British  

/ ˈdʒɛzjʊɪt /

noun

1. a member of a Roman Catholic religious order (the Society of Jesus ) founded by Saint Ignatius Loyola in 1534 with the aims of defending the papacy and Catholicism against the Reformation and to undertake missionary work among the heathen

2. informal (sometimes not capital) a person given to subtle and equivocating arguments; casuist

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Other Word Forms

• Jesuitic adjective
• Jesuitically adverb
• anti-Jesuit noun
• pro-Jesuit noun

Etymology

Origin of Jesuit

1550–60; < New Latin Jēsuita, equivalent to Latin Jēsu ( s ) + -ita -ite ¹

Example Sentences

Christ Blessing by Quentin Massys, dating from about 1500, used to hang behind the altar in the community's chapel of Campion Hall, the Jesuit home for research and study at the University of Oxford.

From BBC

At Loyola High he absorbed the Jesuit maxim of being a man for others.

From Los Angeles Times

Powe’s relatives belonged to the Knights, named for a 17th century Spanish Jesuit who ministered to enslaved people in Colombia and is the country’s patron saint.

From Los Angeles Times

Jesuits in Britain said they made the "difficult decision" to evict Mr Renwick in 2021 after "many attempts to engage with him".

From BBC

We sip and think about the Spanish Jesuit missionaries who filled this spot long before it was a hotel.

From Salon