Jacobin

[ jak-uh-bin ]

noun

(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.
an extreme radical, especially in politics.

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

Origin of Jacobin

1275–1325; Middle English Jacobin<Old French (frere) jacobin<Medieval Latin (frater) Jacōbinus.See Jacob, -in¹

Other words from Jacobin

Jac·o·bin·ic, Jac·o·bin·i·cal, adjective
Jac·o·bin·ism, noun

Words Nearby Jacobin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use Jacobin in a sentence

Reviewing Rooney’s novel for the magazine Jacobin, Amelia Ayrelan Iuvino asserts that though it isn’t fiction’s job to provide political solutions, we can still be mobilized by the existential despair of Rooney’s characters.
Why We Need More Climate Change Love Stories | lwhelan | October 8, 2021 | Outside Online
The government crushed a Jacobin revolt in May 1795 as well as another triggered by royalist sympathizers that October — this time, with the help of the young general Napoleon Bonaparte.
The French Revolution offers a critical lesson as the U.S. returns to normal | Christine Adams | May 7, 2021 | Washington Post
There was a chance that he could have been arrested as well for his Jacobin tendencies.
Napoleon Was a Dynamite Dictator | J.P. O’Malley | November 7, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The Turkish history of imposed Jacobin Secularism ended up creating virtual segregation against observant Muslims.
Turkey’s Struggle for Checks and Balances | Husain Haqqani | January 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
On Park Avenue, beards are about as rare as readers of Jacobin.
Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein Goes Hipster With Davos Beard | Daniel Gross | January 25, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST

Babeuf and Darthe, the principal leaders were secured and executed, which completely crushed the Jacobin power.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel Munsell
At Stettin, during the armistice, he entered the fortress and tried to seduce the governor, an ex-Jacobin and erstwhile friend.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-Pattison
But though he made his submission, again and again his Jacobin principles made themselves felt.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-Pattison
But Napoleon knew his man and his price: a Marshal's bton and a princely income did much to control his Jacobin proclivities.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-Pattison
In his own opinion no better agent could have been found in the rle of a stern, unbending republican and fiery Jacobin.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-Pattison

British Dictionary definitions for Jacobin

Jacobin

/ (ˈdʒækəbɪn) /

noun

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
a leftist or extreme political radical

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

adjective

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

Origin of Jacobin

C14: from Old French, from Medieval Latin Jacōbīnus, from Late Latin Jacōbus James; applied to the Dominicans, from the proximity of the church of St Jacques (St James) to their first convent in Paris; the political club originally met in the convent in 1789

Derived forms of Jacobin

Jacobinic or Jacobinical, adjective
Jacobinically, adverb
Jacobinism, noun

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

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