Cordelier

[kawr-dl-eer]

noun

a Franciscan friar: so called from the knotted cord worn as a girdle.
Cordeliers, a political club in Paris that met at an old Cordelier convent at the time of the French Revolution.

Origin of Cordelier

1350–1400; < Middle French; replacing Middle English cordeler. See cordelle, -er²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for cordelier

Historical Examples of cordelier

Madam, said she, did you not observe that fine young Cordelier, who brought the Box?
The Works of Aphra Behn
Aphra Behn
Charles had about him ‘an Irish cordelier,’ one Kelly, whom he employed as a secretary.
Pickle the Spy
Andrew Lang
No doubt some city gate would be opened to the Cordelier's band.
The Pocket Bible or Christian the Printer
Eugne Sue
As I had hoped, the gate was thrown open before the Cordelier.
The Pocket Bible or Christian the Printer
Eugne Sue
The cordelier was as glad of that as a man who has stalked a covey of partridges.
A Monk of Fife
Andrew Lang

British Dictionary definitions for cordelier

Cordelier

noun

RC Church a Franciscan friar of the order of the Friars Minor

Word Origin for Cordelier

C19: from Old French cordelle, literally: a little cord, from the knotted cord girdles that they wear

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012