Jacobin

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A radical political extremist who supports revolutionary changes to achieve ideological goals, often through violent means
2. A person affiliated with a political faction that seeks to implement drastic changes through reformist ideals and often employs forceful tactics during times of conflict
3. A member of a historical political group advocating for extensive societal reform through radical means, often associated with revolution and governmental overthrow

Etymology: The Jacobins were named after a Paris convent. In 1789, members of the French Revolution's political clubs met in the former Dominican convent of Saint-Jacques (Latin "Jacobus"), a building on the rue Saint-Jacques whose monks had long been known in France as Jacobins. The clubs took on the name of their meeting place, and "Jacobin" soon came to mean any zealous radical, especially one who favoured revolutionary overthrow of government. The word's older sense has nothing to do with politics. The Dominican friars wore a black hood, and the name Jacobin was applied to them after the saint whose church they served. French naturalists later borrowed the term for birds, such as the jacobin pigeon, whose plumage resembles that hood, and the same name lent itself to a soup, "soupe à la Jacobine", a dish named for the friars' hooded robes.