Jacobin

American  

[jak-uh-bin] / ˈdʒæk ə bɪn /

noun

1. (in the French Revolution) a member of a radical society or club of revolutionaries that promoted the Reign of Terror and other extreme measures, active chiefly from 1789 to 1794: so called from the Dominican convent in Paris, where they originally met.

2. an extreme radical, especially in politics.

3. a Dominican friar.

4. (lowercase) one of a fancy breed of domestic pigeons having neck feathers that hang over the head like a hood.

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Jacobin British  

/ ˈdʒækəbɪn /

noun

1. a member of the most radical club founded during the French Revolution, which overthrew the Girondists in 1793 and, led by Robespierre, instituted the Reign of Terror

2. a leftist or extreme political radical

3. a French Dominican friar

4. (sometimes not capital) a variety of fancy pigeon with a hood of feathers swept up over and around the head

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adjective

1. of, characteristic of, or relating to the Jacobins or their policies

Other Word Forms

• Jacobinic adjective
• Jacobinical adjective
• Jacobinically adverb
• Jacobinism noun

Etymology

Origin of Jacobin

1275–1325; Middle English Jacobin < Old French ( frere ) jacobin < Medieval Latin ( frater ) Jacōbinus. See Jacob, -in ¹

Example Sentences

In an article for the Times of India this month, Bhaskar Sunkara, founding editor of the American socialist magazine Jacobin, called Mr. Mamdani “the real deal—a Marxist by training and conviction.”

From The Wall Street Journal

The term “Thermidorian,” central in the book, points to that period in the French Revolution following the toppling of the radical Jacobins.

From The Wall Street Journal

Trying to gain a better perspective, I have repeatedly returned to physician Gabor Mate’s 2022 interview at Jacobin:

From Salon

The currency was primarily supported by a political group known as the Jacobins, a party whose power waned throughout the revolution.

From Science Daily

Robin sees darker currents in a Burke who understood Jacobin violence as implicit in every attempt at political reform.

From Salon