Jacobin

noun

Jac·​o·​bin ˈja-kə-bən How to pronounce Jacobin (audio)
1
: dominican
2
[French, from Jacobin Dominican; from the group's founding in the Dominican convent in Paris] : a member of an extremist or radical political group
especially : a member of such a group advocating egalitarian democracy and engaging in terrorist activities during the French Revolution of 1789
Jacobinic
ˌja-kə-ˈbi-nik How to pronounce Jacobin (audio)
adjective
or Jacobinical
ˌja-kə-ˈbi-ni-kəl How to pronounce Jacobin (audio)
Jacobinism
ˈja-kə-bə-ˌni-zəm How to pronounce Jacobin (audio)
noun

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French jacopin, from Medieval Latin Jacobinus, from Late Latin Jacobus (St. James); from the location of the first Dominican convent in the street of St. James, Paris

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of Jacobin was in the 14th century

Browse Nearby Words

Jacobin
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Jacobin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Jacobin. Accessed 21 Mar. 2025.

Copy Citation

Share

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

More Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

What do SCOTUS, POTUS, and FLOTUS mean?

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden

More Words with Remarkable Origins

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments
See More

Popular Features

See More

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

What do SCOTUS, POTUS, and FLOTUS mean?

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
dog-in-disguise
Rhyme Disguise Quiz Pair up words that look different but sound alike.
See All