Jac"o*bin (?), n. [F. See 2d
Jack, Jacobite.]
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. (Zoöl.) 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.
Jac"o*bin, a. Same as
Jacobinic.
